


Crystallizations of the Past

by goldensummertime



Category: Tales of Vesperia
Genre: Indirect Sequel, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-17
Updated: 2018-08-28
Packaged: 2019-06-12 03:57:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 39,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15331200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldensummertime/pseuds/goldensummertime
Summary: Two long years after the world's been saved and Raven's finally left Schwann behind where he belongs. However, others aren't apt to move on so easily and he's quickly dragged into another long adventure that he really should have avoided.Yuri never wanted to be a guildmaster, anyone important, or anyone with important impact and he supposes he's gotten his wish, but when secrets the Empire  held raise their ugly heads again, he can't simply leave Flynn behind.While adventuring is no longer the top of his list, Karol has fallen quickly into the patterns of daily life as a guild leader. When the unexpected happens, he's forced to wield his weapon again.Brave Vesperia is dragged into another adventure, except this time they no longer have their blastia and the confidence in their skills they had before. Can they strengthen themselves before it's too late? What other secrets are lying just below the surface of the now-daily life of Terca Lumereis?. . .Temporary Hiatus





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back with another (estimated) long story of a topic no one actively searches out. Fun. I'm hoping to have weekly updates again (rip me not getting a job yet), but this may change. I also don't have everything perfectly plotted out, but I've got some ideas, some scenes, and some juicy themes.  
> I've finally died down from my Fire Emblem high (and am I glad I finished that lol) and my brain didn't want to work on my original story (worldbuilding is HARD) so my fingers naturally gravitated toward Tales of Vesperia. I've gotten obsessed with this game as of late, recently finished a Hard run, am close to 100% this game... Jeez I love this game?  
> I thought about waiting until the Definitive version so that I could fact check Patty, mostly, but I figured I liked Flynn's development in the base game and Patty isn't exactly part of Brave Vesperia anyway. I'll be playing her (while my sister gets flynn) once that version comes out and depending on how much I like her I may go back and twist some things to bring her in again.  
> I hope the fact that this story will rely on original characters doesn't turn off anyone. I'm going to be using the OG characters first, mostly, until you guys get used to the newbies. Raven is a blast to write (also really easy, bias much), Yuri is ok, but KAROL. I'm better at writing him from other's eyes. sob. i love my son tho.  
> As far as worldbuilding, I've gotten inspiration from various other fanfictions. The Tales of the ___ series that you guys can find on here, a story about spirit formulae, and others that I've worked in slightly. You don't need to have read them, but I do highly recommend the Tales of the Campfire fanfiction on ao3 as well as the other oneshots the authors have done on ff.net. If you like Estelle, Raven, or both you'll enjoy it.  
> Anyway, enough rambling, and enjoy the show.

While he personally had made it very clear to everyone and their mother that he would no longer be called Schwann or be associated with that person in any way possible, it was still a bit of a shock for Raven to see his gravestone in the flesh.

Of course, his brigade had been informed that, though they could still carry that name, he would no longer respond to it or even be their full-time captain any more. Conversely, he couldn’t just break them up, not after all they had been through, so he told Flynn that he could have full control of them later in the future. It was up to the new commandant to come up with more captains, but Raven would have felt bad if he hadn’t at least helped. There had been too much on Flynn’s plate and Schwann had been captain for ten years. His expertise would be most useful.

Two years had likewise come and gone and Flynn had finally allowed Raven to fully withdraw from the empire after papers and papers of reports, information, and general know-how. 

Schwann had been tangled in the worst of the empire and Flynn had to make sure that nothing of it would escape. Though he seemed to trust Raven now, at least. He didn’t feel very deserving of that trust, but he would see it through to the end.

He stared down at that gravestone, running the words in his mind over and over. It was almost weird for his brigade to pitch in and make him one, knowing that he was still alive in person, but it still felt nice that even though they didn’t know why Raven had cast that persona away, they would respect his decision.

If anyone thought he was really dead, well… Perhaps they didn’t matter as much. Anyone who knew him at all knew the truth and that was what most important.

He’d only visited it a few times and only now did he see a flower rested on the earth.  

“Guess someone didn’t get the memo.”

He tossed a fire lily to Casey’s grave, watching it settle to the ground in the slight wind. “Sorry for everything, Casey. Seems like I wasn’t meant to be that great knight ya always wanted me to be.” He closed his eyes. “But where I am… I’m happy… Finally. Maybe here’s where I was always meant to go. I’ve made a difference… Helped people… Just the way you always wanted.” He almost startled as he watched a few knights make their way through the graveyard, but they paid him no mind. He turned back, noting the flower had turned over in the breeze. “Well… Here’s to my life.”

He waltzed up to Flynn’s office to pay him a few words, noting with amusement that Ioder seemed to also take his presence with a stride. “Will you be heading back to Dahngrest tonight, Raven?”

“Yea. Just came up here to pay a short visit. Seems like you’ve gotten everything under control, so nothin much for me to do here ‘sides oggle over my headstone.”

Flynn pursed his lips as he turned from his paperwork. “I shouldn't have approved that… Regardless of Schwann’s state of rest, it is awkward at best to see a gravestone of someone you used to be…” He sighed and stood up, brushing his hand to the side while Ioder stepped back. “I apologize for that indiscretion.”

Raven waved his hand slowly while shaking his head. “Nah, you did right, son. It’s best ta let Schwann finally rest. He had a miserable life, but Raven’ll make sure it’s not wasted.”

“It’s still…” Ioder paused while considering his words. “It’s rather odd that you find confidence while talking about yourself in the third person, despite the events that have unfolded in the past… Is this psychologically ok for you to be doing this?”

“Well,” Raven shrugged, crossing his hands behind his head, “it’s not like it’s been hurtin me at all. ‘Sides, my place is with Brave Vesperia and Altosk. I owe them too much to dip out on them now.”

Flynn looked slightly upset at the mention of the guild, but brightened up quickly enough. “Right… Give my regards to Yuri if you please. Also tell him that it’s been far too long since we’ve simply sat down for a meal… Drag him here if you must.”

“Whatever you say, commandant.” Raven saluted him quickly before he exited the office, feelign the stuffy memories crushing him.

He wouldn’t visit Zaphias, not for a while yet. But at least it no longer seemed the prison it once did.

. . .

Raven hadn't expected the day to be eventful, but now it just seemed flat out boring. Sure, Brave Vesperia had gotten a few job listings in the past week after he had returned from Iliccia, but it wasn’t really his issue to worry about. Guild popularity had certainly skyrocketed in the two years of being blastia-less, but it wasn’t anything amazing. Certainly not unpredictable in the least anyway.

Karol had been busy enough just getting the paperwork ready for each job and had hardly attended any mission in his own right, not when he could just let Judith and Yuri free to do whatever their client demanded. It was rather easy in that respect, but Raven could tell the young boy yearned to go out and do something himself.

Raven continued scrounging for a knife in his ‘honorary office’, an office that he had moved the majority of Schwann’s items to after he had forsaken his position as captain (though even further than that, Commandant). He couldn’t really trust Altosk to keep their hands to themselves and there was something about the still-small Brave Vesperia that was comforting, so he had kept all important papers and pictures in their headquarters.

After rummaging through one of the few boxes he had left unpacked, Raven stumbled upon an old letter that Schwann had failed to toss and burn. It was almost confusing; he couldn’t remember the contents of the letter very clearly and wondered why someone as unsentimental as Schwann would bother to keep it. Raven shrugged, shoved the letter into his desk, and grabbed the ornate knife to show Yuri.

The clientele of Brave Vesperia had slowly solidified over the past two years to escort missions, monster hunting, and material gathering. Things that required expertise in fighting and martial arts. Though Karol and Yuri especially had struggled the first year to grasp the concept behind transferring mana themselves instead of using a blastia, the two had eventually gotten a hang of their fighting style again and began taking more difficult missions that even Altosk would pass over.

The Don’s absence was still gripping, but at least Harry had control over the Union.

Raven had picked up on the spirit formulae easily, perhaps in due part of his heart that already used mana conversion with his own life force. Rita’s studies had eased his spell casting at first until he could fully grasp the science behind it, but, much to Karol’s chagrin, he had really helped them out the first few months until he and Yuri could use artes again.

It wasn’t an especially hard concept. Once where blastia converted the aer to mana, then directly to artes again, people merely had to channel this new energy through themselves. The spirits helped out with that in some part; if someone concentrated hard enough they could sense them in the air, but it had taken some teaching on the mages’ part. Before, if someone’s blastia had been taken away it posed a threat to their lives if they tried to use magic.

As Raven headed down the stairs, knife in hand, he watched Karol plunk his head onto the front desk, groaning as he rubbed his hands through his hair. “There’s no way we can get this shipment of wolf fang on time! Judith’s coming back with it tomorrow, but they want it in Aurnion by the next two days! It’s more than a day’s trip to Hypionia.”

Yuri seemed calm about it despite the importance of such a task. Flynn himself had requested that Brave Vesperia perform this task, mostly in part due to their skill and partially because they would actually pull through. “If we can’t get it in time then that’s their problem for not doing the math. Even with Ba’ul that sort of travel is impossible. I only took this mission because it was Flynn, after all. If it was anyone else I would have refused…” He rubbed the back of his neck and turned around as Raven set foot on the base floor. “Finally found it, old man?”

“Come on,” Raven chuckled, tossing the blade to Yuri, “you know how my memory is sometimes. It’s old stuff, ya know? Haven’t gone through some of it in years.”

Yuri caught the blade with a practiced hand and looked over the hilt with interest. The metal itself was standard for its price, but the hilt was decorated with blue and pink flowers and Yuri wanted to track down a certain smith known for such skilled work.

For reasons other than purchase, of course. Brave Vesperia wasn’t known as a middleman after all. Even after blastia had been destroyed (or perhaps because of) and the world had been saved, people still resorted to petty actions. Raven didn’t expect much less. Even he was occasionally tangled into the less-desirables of the world.

“Seems like an expert blade,” Yuri commented after a few minutes of Karol slaving over maps and Raven standing at attention, hand behind his back. “Wonder if it was Soul Smiths. They’ve done worse.”

“Nah, that’s from my solder days,” Raven corrected with a gesture. “Missin’ the seal at any rate. Dunno where it came from, all I know is that Alexei gave it to me for one thing or another.”

Yuri narrowed his eyes at the mention of that name, but even if the younger man had no love lost for the former commandant, Raven still remembered the days when Alexei had real hope for the world, hope that involved unification of classes. “Did it get the job done?”

“I wouldn’t call it reliable, the blade’s happen to work loose, but it works for ceremonial purposes. I used it under cover, mostly as assurance. Pretty sure it’s a fake, which’ll help us find the perp.” Raven didn’t remember the exact missions he used it for, but he did remember that it was as Raven and definitely not Schwann. 

The captain probably would have no use for such a useless blade, comparatively speaking.

“Well,” Yuri sighed and stuck it into his pocket and Raven watched the act carefully, “we can get a move on with that request after we get Flynn his goodies.”

“Ah, youth. Prioritizing what you like over what you need.” Raven sighed and Karol shot him a look. “I’m sure Flynn is fine, but seeking out the maker of those knives may prove more important.”

“Calm down old man, I’m not ignoring it completely.” Yuri turned around and grabbed a map. “We’ve worked down the area down to around Yumanju, but we’ll have to actually go there for more information. Something we don’t have time to do right now.”

“Yea, it’s only a coincidence that Flynn happens to be the requester of our current mission,” Karol piped up, but even he seemed rather unconvinced. Raven raised an eyebrow while Yuri still refused to catch his gaze.

“Anyway, Judith should be back by tomorrow, so we have to wait until then at any rate. How about you make yourself busy and go help Harry for a few hours?”

“Aww, you know how he is when I’ve stayed here more than a few days,” Raven complained as he sunk onto the nearest couch. “Sayin stuff like ‘why weren’t you at yesterday’s meeting?’ or ‘you’re not even a member of Brave Vesperia, so help me out more often’.”

“But he’s right, you know,” Karol muttered, already turning back to his maps.

“Ugh.”

Raven didn’t feel like a true member of Altosk anymore, not when he had used the guild as a mere cover, loyalty to the Don or no. Harry knew about his ‘promise’ to Brave Vesperia as well and had allowed his leash to become at least a bit longer. Raven ultimately didn’t really have a part in those meetings. Sure he had maturity, age, and knowledge, but what did that hold up when next to treachery? Harry was always too personal, and Raven knew that very well.

He tossed a few cards onto the low table next to the couch, setting up a small game to take his mind off of the boredom that flowed the main room.

Maybe if they had more members it would be easier for Brave Vesperia to budget their time, but as it stood they only had about seven members. The original four were a given (yes, even Repede) and Karol had slowly allowed more members to join the guild after having them prove their skill. There was Jun, a knifeman who defected from the colosseum after Yuri bested the 200-man brawl, Rayne, a girl from the Hunting Blades who figured that Karol seemed a better guildmaster than Clint, and Cas, a krityan Judith had known from Temza. 

Judith had been making an effort to get krityans to become more active in the world below, but even Tort seemed unwilling. She once shared with Raven that she was lucky enough to find someone from her city that had a passion for also changing the world. Jun and Rayne seemed rather passive about their own goals, but seemed to enjoy their time in the guild, so Raven allowed himself to speak with them once or twice.

No need to get close to them, not him.

It was probably for the best that they weren’t here right now lest Karol worry them with his own stress. Cas was off with Judith and Ba’ul while Jun and Rayne were defeating a few annoying monsters in Halure. They would be picked up by the krityans on their way back, as long as they had finished the request.

Even though Brave Vesperia seemed small at this point, Raven’s heart swelled with pride as he watched Karol work further. That boy had worked long and hard to achieve his dream and Raven was certain that the Don would be proud. Even Harry seemed to notice their resolve due in no small part to them saving the world.

Course Raven, Rita, and Estelle also helped with that, but Brave Vesperia made up more than fifty percent of that group. They deserved a fair bit of that glory.

“You up for a mission, Raven? You seem to be wasting time enough. Took you forever to find that knife,” Yuri muttered from his own chair before he threw a smirk his way. Raven glared back at him as Yuri raised his hands in defeat. “Just saying, you seem bored. If you’re not willing to help Harry, Brave Vesperia would be happy to entertain you.”

“It’s nothin in particular,” Raven muttered before he rested his jaw in his hand. “Jus’ wonderin why Schwann would keep all of that memorabilia. Letters, knives, papers… It’s all a mess. Too much effort.”

“Well, I guess we could ask him if you want to know that badly,” Yuri figured blandly as he ruffled through a few papers, mostly dealing with the knights Raven figured. “I’m sure Boss here would appreciate the help with Flynn’s request. Too stiff and wordy for me to work through the rules, but someone with the know-how…”

“Ah, I guess I can’t turn down a request like that. Hand em here, son.”

The three spent the next few hours working through the stack of paperwork. Raven ended up getting stuck with legal Empire works while Karol worked with more of a timeframe and Yuri helped with rent and other monetary matters. He was always the smarter one with framerate spending, but Karol preferred to do the purchasing for furniture and materials. The balance seemed to work rather well.

Even if they didn’t technically own him (and how that did sound in his head) he probably would have helped anyway. Anything to pay back for what he had done. Even if it was probably Estelle and Flynn he should have owed.

Just as soon as Raven was finally drawing near to the close of his recent form, Repede let out a whuff from Yuri’s feet, causing the swordsman to look up at the main doors. The wood swung open to reveal two women and Raven watched one glance around the room with frantic eyes. He stood up and gestured calmly. “Welcome, darlin’! What can Brave Vesperia do for you?”

“Cut it out, Raven, you’ll scare them off,” Karol muttered without even looking up from his desk and Raven shot him an annoyed glance. He stood up good and proper, moving a few papers to the side, and stepped forward with a smile. “Hello! Do you have a request, or is this a formality?”

“Ah… We’d like an escort if you please.” The taller of the two swiped some brown hair out of her eyes as she took a confident step forward. “If that much is ok, we’ll discuss the details.”

Raven didn’t care much for this exchange further than that, not when Karol had burned him so cruelly, and watched rather unamused as the pair stepped further inwards, away from the burning sun.

He only blinked with confusion once he noticed the second woman make her way inwards and cast a few glances around the main room, eyes landing on him for a few seconds too long for his taste. As she made her way to Karol’s desk, he slowly let his hand fall to his side. He recognized her. He recognized her enough to where he felt his body lose energy with shock. Yuri looked over at him with confusion, but Raven merely shook his head and turned back to the paperwork, sitting down quickly.

It took a few seconds of staring at the back of her head, but the memories slowly came back as he heard her voice echo across the room. She wasn’t a guild member as he’d first suspected, but a soldier. A soldier who had served directly under him for the better portion of five years. A soldier that he shared enough of a past with that it made him shudder. Someone who had resigned because of him, he’d supposed based on observation.

It figured that now, after he’d finally cast away Schwann, something from that era would come back to haunt Raven.

“Hm, you want to travel through the desert?” Karol sounded rather incredulous, but the brunette pushed further.

“There’s a few monsters that we want to study… Or at least,” she looked to her companion with a grateful look while the other shrugged, arms crossed, “I’d like to study them.”

“I wish to travel further than that, to Temza in order to see the ruins,” she spoke evenly, eyes not traveling from Karol’s. “There’s some history pieces that I’m close to putting together, but I need more evidence.”

“Are you working with the historical guild?” She shook her head at Karol’s question and he sighed. “I guess the empire did keep a lot of information…” He shook his head, eyes closed. “I’m sorry, but if you really want to request us we’re booked at the moment. You’ll have to wait… About a week if that’s ok.”

The taller woman smiled and nodded her head with enthusiasm. “That’s fine! It’s a long journey and I wouldn’t want to keep you for too long or anything.” The other shrugged as she looked over to her, echoing her agreement.

“So…” Yuri started, walking closer to them, and eyed them over. “You don’t look like nobles. Certainly not soldiers. What’s your deal?”

“I’m part of Leviathan’s claw, but we don’t exactly do escort missions,” the taller laughed, rubbing the back of her neck. “Aster here… well… uh, how do we explain that…?”

The blue haired woman (such a strange color, Raven recalled) tilted her head to the right. “I compile information. You could call me a researcher, but its rather more personal than that. I also sing on the side sometimes.”

“I bet you’re a joy at bars,” Yuri sighed before he walked fully behind Karol’s desk. “Get ready to have a tighter wallet because this escort mission will be rather expensive. We’re not exactly a fan of the desert.”

“I don’t blame you.” The taller rubbed her shoulders with a lamenting sigh. “That’s why no one from my guild wanted to go along with me. I was lucky enough to find Aster. We make a good enough team.”

“You… You’re not friends?” Raven finally spoke up, causing the both of them to turn to him with widened eyes.

“Well, no. We met about a week ago.” The taller one (Raven had to ask her name at some point) gestured to Aster while she looked up. “She needed an escort, but I figured I wasn’t enough. We were heading to the same place and I asked her if Brave Vesperia was good enough.” Karol wilted at that phrasing, but the woman continued. “It’ll cut down on our costs overall and your time. Better we do it at once than consult you twice, right?”

“Yeesh, people must be gettin brave now that even the empire and guilds are working together,” Raven sighed as he stood up, taking a step forward, noting with acuteness that the taller woman wilted back a touch. “You sure you don’t have history? Just for,” he grinned, pausing, “security purposes.”

“I’ve never met Mae personally, but I’ve done requests for Leviathan’s Claw time to time,” Aster finally spoke up and crossed her arms across her chest, glaring up at Raven. “You can rest assured that we are being truthful with our professions. I am a history researcher that roams the world, emphasis on the Great War, and Mae is a new member of Leviathan’s Claw.” He met her gaze in turn, narrowing his eyes slightly as he tried to determine her mood. He didn’t ever remember her being good at lying, but lots could change in six, seven years. She eventually looked away, embarrassed, and Yuri glanced at Raven for a second.

“Not new, I’ve been there for… five, six years,” Mae sulked, and Raven finally let them off the hook.

“Leviathan’s Claw, huh?” Karol and Yuri both sighed at that, no doubt reflecting on a certain obsessive ‘friend’ of theirs, and Raven chuckled.

“Well, that’s one of the influential guilds after all. Guess we have to be a dear and help out when needed. Not like we’re at war again.” Of course Raven couldn’t ever forget what Zagi and especially Yeager had done to them, but he couldn’t take it out on anyone else in the guild, especially not a young lady with a special request. Karol shot a confused look Raven’s way, but he waved his hand. “The past is the past, my boy. ‘Sides, ever since some other schmuck took up leadership they’ve been hasslin us less. All good, yea?”

“I suppose that’s one way to put it,” Yuri muttered, barely loud enough for Raven to catch, and he tossed the women a few papers. “Here’s some disclosure forms, rates, and other minute information. Look over that for a bit while we finish this next paper…”

Repede yawned from the side and the air finally stilled, returning to the calm atmosphere that usually permeated the afternoons spent in the main hall. Thankfully, the pair worked silently on the documents save moments where they compared prices and timeframes. Though he hadn’t had much reason to not trust them, Raven felt as if they had other motives for heading to the middle of the desert. It seemed almost specific, and he wondered if he should have Altosk keep an eye on Leviathan’s Claw again. Even though it wasn’t controlled via Alexei this time, Raven never really had a positive outlook on the assassin’s guild, especially since they took on more missions after the Blood Alliance had disbanded. He still couldn’t determine Yeager’s motives, even after finding out that he had been the one Casey had loved.

Really, he should have seen it coming. He had interacted with him once or twice back in those days, but had never really put the pieces together. Oh well. He had resigned to the fact that, even then, he would never be with her, despite his wildest dreams. The most he could do for her now was move completely on. He touched the bow at his side and exhaled mournfully and Repede walked over to him with a whine. Raven smiled down at the dog and patted his head once. “Nothin to it, boy. Just me bein me.”

Finally Mae handed the paper forth and Karol glanced over it for a few seconds before smiling up at them. “Ok! We’ll gather our team in a week’s time if you’re still available.”

“Well, it’s not like I have anywhere else to be,” Mae admitted, crossing her arms behind her neck and smiling downward at him. “I live in Dahngrest after all.”

“Any special requests or requirements?” Yuri asked quickly before the conversation could move on completely and Aster shook her head slowly.

Mae however seemed to have other ideas. “Hm, I don’t know if we’ll need a healer, considering the strength of the monsters isn’t very worrying… Aster also has long-range magic and she can heal poison...”

“It’d be best that we take the old man then,” Yuri concluded quickly, leaning back on his heels while Raven shot him a disappointed look. “He’s best in that desert. Better than us.”

“I’m still going for assurance’s sake,” Karol sighed, almost sadly, but looked back at the guildswoman. “I think we can accompany that. I’ll leave… you behind, Yuri, so you can watch over here while I’m gone. I think we’ll also take Judith and maybe Jun…” Karol paused and rummaged through the papers again. “No wait, he’s got a mission then…”

“Guess I should head over to the Union then before they blow my head off,” Raven sighed before he patted Karol on the back. “I’ll get myself mentally ready for that ordeal as well… Ugh...”

“Well, thanks for the work you put in today, old man,” Yuri muttered as he turned toward the door.

Raven could feel too many sets of eyes on the back of his head and he didn’t like it at all.

He turned and waved to the other two. “No problem. Anything for the Brave Vesperia.”

Even if it involved a part of his past he wanted to shove away, he would have to do it for them. He owed them that much, perhaps even more. But for now, he would really have to speak to Harry before another punishment befell him. He sighed at the thought, but shut the double doors behind him.

The crisp evening air of Dahngrest welcomed him, even if it was stuffy with the moisture of summer. He was glad that it hadn’t been too hot all day else it would have been annoying to walk around in.  Too bad he couldn’t spend much time in it and he reached Union headquarters quickly, opening the doors to a thrall of people who had seen fit to gather in that main room.

He sighed and began ushering people away from the main walkway so that he could reach the back room with ease. Hopefully he wouldn’t be arriving in the middle of a meeting, but Harry wouldn’t mind that much, surely.

He hadn’t really helped out on many guild missions since Brave Vesperia’s first attempt to stand on their own two feet. He’d been far too busy for that stuff after the blastia had disappeared and ended up assisting Rita of all people for the better part of three months. She’d said it had something to do with how his heart was already completely proficient in mana conversion, but he didn’t know how much he believed her, especially when she monitored him for three weeks straight.

She hadn’t had much faith his heart wouldn’t quit, it seemed. But at any rate, that had given him the necessary boost to mastering mana conversion through the formulae. He’d shared a bit with Yuri and Karol after that, but he still felt head and shoulders above them.

He felt that again when he watched Clint begin yelling at the much-shorter Harry, though the boy kept a straight face.

“What do you mean ‘a boundary line’? We’ve been commissioned by the empire itself since their knights seem to be floundering at the task.”

Harry waved Clint’s hand to the side and watched Raven sit down unceremoniously on the roll near the window. “I mean the empire has been treading our bounds too close again and hassling our guilds. We’re pulling back on some assignments until they remember again that we are not there to merely protect their people. We have our own issues to worry about.”

“If ya must fight those monsters, fight the ones that are hecklin our people,” Raven piped up from the side, earning a look of distaste from the newest member of the master guilds. “The empire’s doin fine as it is. Probably the nobles that are treadin’ on our toes.”

“I’ve conversed with Emperor Ioder about the matter, but he says that some issues are not his to determine, not with the council and magistrate still their own bodies,” Harry clarified, but not without a tone of annoyance. “For now, I’ll be regulating our interactions with the empire until they once again remember who they’re dealing with.”

“Damn blastia... “

“It’s not the blastia’s fault they stopped working,” Raven spoke up again, still as casual as ever, and Clint glared at him again. “Now that we’re all on our two feet again, it’s not bad to pull away from the empire. Your guild is stable now, isn’t it? With the spirit stuff.”

“Regardless, an assignment is an assignment, and we won’t back down, not when there’s been a raise in monster activity.”

Raven raised an eyebrow. He hadn’t heard of this. Jeez, maybe he really should attend these meetings more often.

“This is only on the outer rings of civilization and nothing has been explicitly confirmed,” Harry argued, but he seemed to agree with the guildmaster on some level. “However, I will be sending out a message to the guilds and the people here in Dahngrest to keep an eye out, especially when only those with studious intentions are fully able to use their artes.”

“This spirit stuff sure is a handful, isn’t it?” Raven sighed before he stood up and stretched. “But I suppose blastia cores for the world isn’t a bad trade-off, not when mana is easier to control than aer. The spirit formula isn’t bound by mere items either. Free for everyone with the knowledge.”

“One misthought and an arte can backfire,” Clint argued back quickly, but the fire of argument seemed to have burned away. “But it’s not a nuisance to have spirits take the place of our daily blastia.”

“Yea, no need to excavate blastia to hand out,” Raven continued, though he sent a glance to the new leader of Ruins Gate as he did so. She shrugged with nonchalance. “Though I guess Ruins Gate is now merely a change for history exploration rather than important materials.”

“There’s more to excavate than blastia and it’s for the best that we move away from that past,” she argued with a sigh. “The most important thing for everyone is to fully settle into this new world. The new issues cropping up should likewise be explored fully before we make any snap decisions.”

Though the world had moved on from the Adephagos and the destruction of the blastia, there were still those who yearned for the past to finally be fully revealed. The Great War had lain in such darkness that even nobles hadn’t a clue as to what really happened. Raven himself only knew some facts, like Duke’s involvement, the usage of the Hermes blastia, and the near obliteration of the knights. Sure, Entelexeia and humans had fought over blastia, but that was so little to go on. It would make sense that people would request Ruins Gate to excavate more ruins for information, ask the Aspian residents for research information, and even people like Aster would search out on their own.

Raven didn’t think the krityans would know much either, not when they had spent most of their lives in Myorzo, locked away from the world at the start of it all. It was all so confusing and he still didn’t know what to think.

“It would be a lot easier to settle if we knew the monsters weren’t a threat,” Clint argued back and Raven was reminded that he was in the middle of a meeting once again and finished that thought with a sigh. Clint spared him no look. “If you’d prefer me to report on the appearance of stronger monsters, I’d be happy to do so. Can’t guarantee their survival though.” 

Harry seemed to think the meeting had run its course and excused the guild masters. After Clint had exited the room, he turned to face Raven with a rather annoyed expression. “I thought you were going to sit through a full meeting this time. You’ve been skipping out on your guild duties.”

“Things happened. Brave Vesperia needed some paperwork done, somethin related empire and needed my expertise.” Raven clasped his hands together as Harry frowned at him. “Sorry! There was also a job request, so I helped a bit with that.”

“I understand the reasoning behind your involvement with Brave Vesperia,” Harry sighed while fingering the papers on his own desk, “but you must remember that you are ultimately a member of Altosk. You don’t receivecompensation from those jobs. You need to prioritize Altosk.”

Raven sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “I understand, but I owe those kids too much… Surely you understand? You owe Altosk your everything as well.”

Harry seemed to wilt at that statement, but he understood Raven at the very least. “Of course… But I would appreciate it if you were to assist your home guild more often. Perhaps you started out as a spy… But we appreciate you for your actions now. Please pull through.”

“‘Course, Don. But I’m afraid I’ll be assisting on a job next week, so perhaps the work could maybe wait till then?” Raven smiled with a nervous lilt while Harry rubbed his forehead.

“Raven!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you couldn't tell, Raven is my favorite character...  
> Also there's SO MUCH story micromanagement I have to do, so if you see an error in the plot please tell me. Along with any spelling errors, sometimes Microsoft and I don't catch them all.  
> As always, happy reading~


	2. Chapter 2

Yuri couldn’t exactly say he was shocked with the popularity of guild requests after the end of the blastia era, but the requests had consistently been getting harder and more expensive, not just for Brave Vesperia to fund, but for the people to even afford. He hadn’t realized that removing the blastia would cause such an inconvenience; people could no longer travel in small groups, but needed to request escorts. Artes were harder and harder to use without consistent practice (though Raven, Rita, and Estelle had gotten the hang of spirit formulae incredibly easy) and even though the empire and the guilds seemed to get along well enough, Yuri knew that the removal of the blastia caused ruffled feathers on both ends.

Even with Flynn and Ioder heading the country, Yuri knew it was only a matter of time before something would snap, though he figured this would be from the guild’s end. Not like Harry wasn’t a good Don or anything, but he was still young and inexperienced, something that all other guilds could see right through. They always had a hairspring temper anyway.

Perhaps if Raven would get his head out of the ground and help more often it could be salvageable (hadn’t he been in line for commandant after all?), but Yuri also didn’t want to force him to do something like that either, not after everything that had happened.

Seeing him mope around the Brave Vesperia headquarters made Yuri less sympathetic and he tossed some reports onto the older man’s lap, smirking as Raven tossed him a confused look. “We’re looking into fake weaponry. Apparently the empire was hit hard. You got any info?”

Raven grabbed the papers while Yuri continued giving him a stink eye and scratched the back of his neck. “Actually this does seem a bit familiar. I recall gettin a knife or something from an undercover mission… Looks somewhat like this.”

“Can I see it? I need to check if it has a seal or not.”

Yuri almost thought he’d mope around and dully refuse, but instead he slowly got up and sighed loudly. “It’ll take me a bit of time to find it if yer fine with waitin a bit.” Yuri waved his hand and sent Raven off to his office to have some alone time.

No, what was snapping was the Empire. The guilds had nothing to do with it, even if the Blood Alliance had crumpled and Leviathan’s Claw was only a shell of what it had been and Altosk was still picking up the pieces. 

Unlike the guilds, the Empire had struggled to adjust to being blastia-less and of course the council wouldn’t be too happy about that. He’d gotten several reports from Flynn of previously hidden groups coming out of the woodwork to heckle commoners and smaller towns, one of which had been involved in a rather gruesome event at Yurzorea almost 8 years ago, destroying a city. Yuri hadn’t been in the knights anymore at that point, but at that time Flynn had theorized they were trying to get classified information.

Recently, many people had been aiming to unearth the facts about the Great War, but the Empire had practically lost all of the relevant information after Alexei died, a statement that Yuri was pretty sure was absolute bull. But even Flynn didn’t know, and that was what was most worrying. Not Estelle, not Ioder the sheltered nobles, but even the Commandant had no idea.

Yuri had thought of asking Raven a few times, but after seeing the look on his face when Karol breached the topic automatically shot down that idea and he’d resigned to an ambiguous history.

When two women entered Brave Vesperia and asked for a travel to Desier with the intention of fact-hunting, Yuri was all for it. Once the woman Mae mentioned she was a member of Leviathan’s Claw, though, he felt more hesitant and didn’t mind much that Karol decided he’d sit out to finish other things. He suggested that Jun come along on the trip as well, but Karol explained that he wanted Yuri and Jun to get along better before his own mission. 

“I’d like if you and Jun looked into those fake weapons for Flynn once you’re done with your stuff. I don’t think we’ll have new information by the time Judith’s ready, but you’re good at that stuff. Maybe we can connect it to that group, the…”

“I think they called themselves the Faction?” Yuri shrugged as Karol shook his head. “The only reason they’re an issue at all is because of the blastia. If the Empire and Guilds had more control over the spirits, they’d be gone.”

“I hope you can find something, then,” Karol finished, watching as Raven exited the headquarters, giving Yuri and Karol a rather strange look that set him on edge.

Surely that blade hadn’t meant much with Raven’s context, nothing outside of mere passing of hands. But, then again, nothing was simple with the old man. Yuri turned to Karol after a few more minutes passed and leaned on the edge of the desk. “What did Flynn say the group had done in the past?” He grabbed the offending report and read it over while Karol leaned back as Mae and Aster debated item uses.

“They’d done trouble to Yurzorea and the Union pulled contact out of that continent as a result... “ Karol pointed out a paragraph and Yuri turned the paper. “The Empire lost some groups trying to bring them to justice, but… Well, you know what Alexei was like.”

“No kidding…”

Yuri didn’t know much about the Empire’s global business during that time period. It probably hadn’t been good either. Really, if he and Karol wanted to know (or if the information was incriminating) Raven would have shared something, hopefully. If the group remained as mere annoyances, Yuri figured Flynn would be able to take care of them eventually. His friend hadn’t shown signs of being overly worried of it and Harry hadn’t even made mention of them once. Surely they must not have been that big of a deal, then. 

Raven hadn’t made mention of it being a subject in any Union meetings anyway, but he hadn’t been a ready participant of said meetings, so Yuri didn’t know whether to trust him or not.

He looked up as Aster walked over to the desk, handing Karol some papers. “Mae will be spending the duration of the travel to Temza at Mantaic, so we don’t need to worry about extra payment for that.”

“Of course.” Karol glanced over the forms while doing some small calculations before he nodded his head. “Seems good. The way the timelines match, we can set off… eight days from now. I don’t suppose Mae has a mission she can go on during that time…?”

Aster shrugged and looked over her shoulder. Yuri didn’t miss the bored look in her eyes, a careful veil to her true feelings, but he couldn’t guess as to what she was hiding. “I haven’t a clue. I have no other priorities, though, so if you have something important to tell me you can find me at the bars.”

“Good. We’ll just send Raven to pick you up then,” Karol muttered lowly, “he’s always there.”

“If you need me for anything, don’t hesitate to ask,” she finished with a wave of her hand and a small smile. “I’ll do anything to knock down a few gald.”

“Unless you’re a fan of travel and underground research, I don’t think we can help you much,” Yuri sighed and crossed his arms while she smiled again.

“Well, anything small will do. It seems like you need someone to whip your fourth guild member into shape.”

“I don’t know if I’d call him a ‘guild member’,” Karol mumbled, rubbing his neck as he glanced over more papers. “He’s more of… an honorary… person?”

Yuri smirked while raising an eyebrow, leaning on his elbow as Aster took a hesitant step back. “You see Repede over there? That’s our fourth member.”

“Ah… I see…” She put on a small smile, but Yuri could tell he had made her uncomfortable. “I suppose you’re still struggling with finding members? You’re still a rather small guild, even after all this time.”

Yuri supposed that was his own fault. He didn’t much like to interact with people he didn’t know, and he only allowed Jun, Cas, and Rayne to join was mostly due to their skill. Cas’s healing was good for a pinch mission, and Rayne and Jun were good fighters. Rayne had been one of the few from the Hunting Blades to appreciate Karol on some level, so he’d been more willing to let her in. Jun was pretty quiet, but had been a formidable foe in the Colosseum, so they’d also let him in without many worries.

He couldn’t say he trusted Aster, not with the strange looks Raven was giving her. Something abnormal. At worst, she could be someone from those renegade groups sent to end them before they dug any deeper. He had to avoid that.

Mae seemed to be rather airheaded. She had to be younger than Aster at any rate, even if she was taller and had an older look to her. Yuri recieved many comments that he still looked eighteen and he figured Aster had that same sort of appearance. She could hide truths easily, like Judith.

“I wouldn’t say struggling,” Karol started, but let his words fade away as he glanced out of the now darkened windows, the sounds of turbulence hitting the headquarters. “What’s that?”

Yuri straightened up sharply, almost hitting his knee on the desk, and Repede bounded to the door while Mae looked up in surprise. Aster stepped aside as Yuri  made his way to the doors, flinging them open to send himself out onto the streets. He looked wildly left and right as the sounds of fighting echoed harder in his hears, feeling his blood chill with the realization that the Union had been hit.

“What the hell’s going on?” He gripped the hilt of his sword and dashed forward, making his way through the throngs of people, those too frightened to fight directly, those who lived in the city for casual work. As he made his way to the front of the Union he bumped into Raven, who’d also been staring at the mess with a sort of sick fascination, but covered more by worry. Yuri gripped his shoulder with admittedly more force than necessary and turned the older man around, already frowning. “Raven, what happened?”

“Dunno, I’d been excused by the time the explosion happened.”

“Explosion?” Yuri looked up at the reaching flames. So that’s what the initial noise had been. “Is everyone safe?”

“I don’t know…” Yuri winced and turned back, grimacing as Raven looked to the ground. “The integrity of the Union was compromised. We can’t go in there. All we can do is quell the flames.”

“I suppose it’s too bad we don’t have Rita, then,” Yuri pushed out before heading closer to the building. “Get some mages! Or someone who can carry lots of water.”

“Roger that, boss!” Raven ducked away through the crowd, much to Yuri’s relief. 

To be shocked into inaction… He must have been more worried than Yuri realized. He turned to the gathered people up front in a rather unorganized mess, though at least some of them had brought water and buckets. “Those with magic try and control the flames, those without fetch water in a line! Hurry it up!”

“Shouldn’t we try to get the Don out of there?” One bystander pleated, but Yuri shook his head.

“It’s hopeless doing that as it is. The last thing we need to do is sacrifice each other. Let’s hurry it up so we can save the people inside!”

Thankfully there had been some in the crowd who’d studied the new spirit magic enough to where they could dull the flames, but even now it seemed like magic was simply still too foreign to help enough for Yuri’s comfort. Even with him barking out orders and buckets being tossed onto the flames, they weren’t dimming in the least.

Heck, if he were any smarter, he’d say they weren’t any normal flame.

“Yuri!” He turned at the sound of his name being called and watched as Karol and Repede ran up to the commotion, Mae and Aster flanking him in kind. “Yuri, is Harry ok? What’s going on?”

“No time to explain! Help out best you can!” Yuri almost turned back, but hesitated as Aster stepped forward and placed a hand on her chest.

“I recognize these… We can stop them, but it will take time.”

“Time that those people trapped in there don’t have,” Mae argued back with fury, but Aster brushed her concerns aside.

“I have experience with this. I’ll try and mitigate it the best I can, but we need more water. Ask the mages to help with transportation, their bodies will be more useful that way,” she concluded.

Yuri still didn’t trust her, especially not now that he knew that she knew what this was, but he didn’t have much of a choice if he wanted Harry and the Union alive. “Fine. Do what you have to.” He turned around in resignation and Aster ran forth, extending a bow he didn’t know she carried.

“That…?” Yuri stepped back as a blast of power emanated forth around Aster and watched as she stretched out her hand, reciting the well-known incantation for water magic.

“How does she of all people have spirit magic down?” Karol muttered as he brandished Mjonir, Repede standing off to the side already.

“Guess she’s a genius mage like our friend?” Yuri didn’t believe his own words, but it was certainly strange, though a relief, to see water pouring over the flames.

Made him worried when he noticed they weren’t having any sort of effect. Aster waved her hand and concentrated further if the rings around her were of any judge. He could see her straining against the effort, but slowly, slowly, as the water disappeared, the flames slowly shrank down. She gasped once and Yuri took a step forward. “Destroy… Destroy the wood at the base… If you don’t, even with the stone, it will only get stronger…”

“That’s part of the Union building,” Karol argued quickly, but Yuri waved his hand.

“Do it anyway, Karol. We can’t let this fire spread further than it already has.”

The few mages that Yuri knew as more adept at spirit magic clustered around Aster and slowly began replicating her own incantations, accelerating the rate of the fire’s diminishing nature. As soon as they shrank to around five feet, Repede dashed in, wiggling in between fallen beams of wood to make his way to the inner room. Karol reached a hand forward in protest, but Yuri stopped him. If there was anyone who had a chance to save the Don and others, it was Repede.

Minutes passed by as if running through a Stop Flow spell, but eventually Aster and the few mages completely snuffed out the fire. She let out a gasp and sunk to her knees as the other mages stumbled around her. Yuri knelt down and touched her shoulder. “Are you ok? What was that?”

She exhaled sharply, panting with the effort, and shook her head, a small smile on her face. “I’ll tell you some other time… For now, help the people inside… The nature of this fire… They shouldn’t be dead… not yet…”

Yuri looked up, but couldn’t catch a glimpse of Repede. Karol and other shorter Union members were already busting open the front of the demolished building, heading inwards while others used artes to stabilize the roof.  He turned back as Aster tried to stand up, stumbling all the while, and forced her to sit full on the cobblestone. “Don’t. You’re tired, and you’ve done enough.”

“But there’s always more to do, isn’t there?” Despite that argument, she didn’t seem to try and move further, so Yuri left her and headed closer to the building. The fading embers heated his skin despite the only faint glow they left behind. What sort of magic had that been? It was no normal fire. He’d have to ask her more later, but for now treating the injured people was more important. If only Cas had remained in Dahngrest at least they’d have a reliable healer.

As soon as that thought crossed his mind, the first victim (survivor) had been pulled out from the rubbish, Repede clamped onto the person’s collar with a death grip and only let Yuri closer, growling at any bystanders. Once Yuri waved Raven over (he’d finally arrived back, jeeze) the older man began healing as quickly as possible. Hopefully Karol would be able to do the same for any victims in too great a condition to be moved right away, but he could only hope for the best.

“These burns need more than just my magic touch,” Raven muttered slowly, moving his hand across the unconscious person’s stomach. “Broken bones… Internal bleeding… We need more help than we got here.”

Yuri clicked his tongue and felt his face turn as he looked up. Dahngrest was known for its fighters, not its healers, and Estelle was all the way in Zaphias. “Is there any way we can somehow ask a spirit for help?” 

“Not without our lovely princess. I have negligent connection at best anyhow, not enough.”

“Do we have any good healers around?”

“None that I know of, but I also only knew about three, so hope’s there.”

Unfortunately for everyone else, more survivors (and bodies, unfortunately) were pulled from the mess. The Dahngrest residents could do was give them base treatment while those with ready access to items and some base healing spells worked with the worst of them. Yuri eventually distanced himself a bit, coming to rest near one of the less injured victims. While Yuri prodded for a bit of an answer, all he could provide was that it had gotten chaotic fast and certainly had been calculated. “It was busier than normal and I’m positive some of the people weren’t actually members of the Union. It was obvious in retrospect…”

“Thanks for the information.” Yuri made to stand up, but he gripped his wrist, pulling his attention back, and Yuri paused as the man frowned, eyes darkening.

“I want you to get those bastards… I know, as the co-founder of Brave Vesperia, if anyone could do it, you can. Please, get revenge for the Don.”

“Oh boy…” Yuri waved his hand as the man pulled back. “Revenge is totally not my style. But I’m also not gonna leave Dahngrest unprotected. Don’t worry, we’ve got this.”

If he were to make a guess, it was another extremist group. At least they’d already been commissioned for that job, so another step wouldn’t hurt. Flynn would be grateful, at least, that they’d be trying to nip this even more in the bud.

Not like the poison hadn’t already bloomed, but at least they had something to go off of. Aster had mentioned seeing that strange fire somewhere before, so he’d have to start with her. Hopefully it would also be connected with that fake weapons dealing group; the fire wasn’t  _real_ per say, but it could also lead them in a different direction.

Jeeze. Why couldn’t the world just stay saved after the Adephagos was destroyed? Yuri looked up into the darkened sky, missing the ever presence of Brave Vesperia.

Two long hours later and the wreckage had finally been stabilized, those injured most moved to the inn for recovery, and Yuri and Raven had personally gone around to all witnesses to gather the most accurate information. From what the younger man had gathered, there seemed to have been a planned attack on the Union by a coordinated group, the likes of whom no one knew about. While most witnesses had expressed their unease at seeing a larger crowd in the Union main room, none had thought of it particularly strange until an unrecognizable bystander used their magic to warp the fire in the bronze dish, causing it to catch the building on fire.

It was an incredibly strange way to stage an attack, but Yuri figured that they couldn’t rely on mere artes anymore, not with the spirits unlikely to comply directly with an attack of terrorism. Apparently Raven hadn’t gotten much more, other than first person accounts which he figured he wouldn’t share with him. “It’s… more personal, and people are willing to share that stuff with me only because I’m the Don’s right hand.” He winked at Yuri, barely concealing a grimace, and Yuri kept his face calm. “Nothin personal to you, savin the world n all.”

“No offence taken, but I’ll need descriptions of the offenders at least,” Yuri mumbled before he groaned into his palm. Flynn wouldn’t like to hear this at all. He’d probably complain about Yuri attracting trouble again, though they both knew he couldn’t help it. “Are we sure the Don was the target?”

Raven crossed his arms behind his neck and tapped his foot, face going darker. “I dunno about that. I think they were tryin ta make a show. They’ve been doin that, yea? Guess the Union was the next step.”

“So we’ve got an attack on the Empire, now the Union… And Flynn says the patterns are like those of an attack in Yurzorea… You got any info on that?” Raven’s face darkened before becoming completely blank, and Yuri immediately regretted trying to broach the topic again. Despite that, he pushed forth with his own determination. “This isn’t about personal feelings anymore, old man. Peoples’ lives are at stake! Flynn and the Empire have trusted us with finding out just what the hell is going on and there’s something, important or not, that you aren’t telling me.”

“Fine. I know when I need to croak.” Raven closed his eyes and let his arms fall to his sides with a sigh, completely resigned, and Yuri felt a chill run through his spine. “Schwann was sent on a few missions to Yurzorea to interact with the locals, collect info. What seemed to be an extremist group, opposing Alexei, attacked him and the villages at every move. Despite this…” His voice quieted, growing colder. “He kept pressing on. Knowing that his presence was leading people to their deaths. All to get information on entelexeia and apatheia.” Yuri gulped, catching trace regret on the older man’s face. “Good soldiers died… Because I didn’t refuse hopeless orders… Because I stuck to the mission, word for word.”

“That’s Alexei’s fault, not yours, not Schwann’s,” Yuri breathed out, taking a step forward before Raven could sink into another well of self-pity. “Was the group’s aim to protect the Entelexeia?”

Raven shrugged before looking into his eyes again. “I don’t know. If I had to make a guess… They were trying to stop Alexei. Not the process of gathering, just the commandant. But it’s still a guess.”

“Figures that even then people were opposed to him…”

“How couldn’t they be?” Raven let out a breathy laugh, devoid of humor. “He made people’s lives hell.”

“Was it Yeager then?” Raven didn’t respond at first, but Yuri felt even then that he was grasping at straws. “What if we asked that girl… Mae? She’s in the guild. She may know.”

Raven shook his head. “The last attack was eight years ago. Since then… The empire’s had no connection with the group. We assumed they’d given up on their task once the Empire and the Union had pulled from Yurzorea.”

Was it the continent, then, that they were trying to protect and not aim for the defeat of Alexei? It was all too foggy to tell, but at least Yuri had some leads to work off of. “Thanks old man. You’ve done a lot. You should probably rest too before your body gives up. Old age and all.”

“Oh please,” Raven retorted, mood back to normal at least in appearances sake, and grinned at Yuri. “I’m not that old yet.” Despite that reply, he did take the prompting to sit down for a few minutes before he gathered himself and headed to the Brave Vesperia headquarters and Yuri felt glad that they’d thought to give him his own proper room.

The Union wouldn’t be suitable for living for the next few weeks after all.

Yuri eventually made his way over to Karol to make sure that the boy hadn’t also run himself down with exhaustion, but once he saw Repede at his side he knew that it must not have been that bad. Karol looked up a bit as he made his way over, but turned back to the wreckage, kicking over a pice of wood with his foot. Yuri plopped himself down on the ground, sliding his wrist over his knee. “Piece of work, isn’t it?”

Karol sighed and Yuri could see the tenseness in his shoulders. “Harry could have died… The guild masters could have died and I couldn’t do anything…”

“You did more than I did,” Yuri scoffed, shifting over to the left slightly as Repede stepped back, off on his own quest. “You were able to actually reach the survivors with that hammer of yours. All I did was make sure people didn’t trip over themselves in their attempt to help out.”

“Yea, but Yuri… You were so… calm, not like me…” Karol finally plunked down and stretched his legs out, letting out a long breath of air. “Once I noticed something was wrong… It took all I could not to freak out… And once I got in… It was so scary…” He looked down and hugged his legs, bringing them up to his chest. “I could see dying people, Yuri, and there wasn’t anything I could do to help them… Not like the Adephagos, where we had to fight Duke… He didn’t even  _die_ … But these people… It’s like they died for nothing.”

Yuri couldn’t say much to that, not when he didn’t have enough information to begin with, and it seemed to be at a point where he couldn’t really say much to console him. “No, not nothing. They’ve given us a hint as to what to do, ways to improve the system. It’s not like they didn’t matter. It’s just up to us to decide what to do from here on out.”

Karol didn’t move, didn’t make much acknowledgement that he’d heard Yuri other than slightly loosening shoulders. “I’ve... I’ve never seen someone die in front of me... Not like that...” He turned to face Yuri and he noticed a slightly wild look in the boy’s eyes. “With Yeager and Alexei it was different, they did bad things and they almost deserved to die...” He winced and pulled inward. “It was like... watching the Don die all over again...”

Perhaps it was only luck, then, that Harry hadn’t died, but Yuri wrapped his arm around Karol’s shoulders all the same. “I’m not gonna sugarcoat this or anything. Maybe there isn’t a reason why they died. But it’s our place as the living to move on, live, and learn from it. Sticking yourself in the past is the worst thing to do. Look at Raven. He suffered for ten years because of it. We’re supposed to be learning from him, not getting ourselves stuck too. Besides, this gives us a lead, doesn’t it?”

“Yea... I guess you’re right, Yuri...” He exhaled slowly and stood up. “The last thing that will help them is me moping around. Can’t run from this, especially not when we’re important members of the Union.” He watched Repede slowly make his way over to the pair and Yuri stood up to pat the dog on the head once. “What Aster did was pretty amazing, though,” Karol mentioned and Yuri narrowed his eyes. He looked up at the man and tilted his head. “The fire felt different, weird, but she immediately knew what to do with it. She must be pretty connected with the spirits if she’s able to use magic that well already.”

He didn’t know about that, but Yuri knew that Raven and Rita had also picked up on magic much faster than anyone else had expected; there was no reason this couldn’t apply to others. “I guess we’ll have to ask her tomorrow. There’s a few things I want to know too.” At any rate, he couldn’t let her leave the city. There was a chance she had been involved in the first place. Who else would have known how to quell the flames?

“Do you think we should help more?”

Yuri figured they couldn’t exactly do much more with their lack of magic, so he persuaded Karol into taking a night after a quick visit with the survivors. Perhaps they could share some words of wisdom, especially the older members of the Union.

Yuri wouldn’t have preferred that this instance be Karol’s experience with needless violence, but if he hadn’t journeyed with them on the quest to save the world, it would have hit him a lot harder. He took some small solace in that fact as Karol sat next to Harry’s bed, listening to him ramble about what the first Don would have done. “I wonder if this would have even happened in the first place?” 

Yuri sighed as Harry did. “There’s no point in wondering about what could have been. We’re in the present now, so we have to deal with our own problems and fallout.”

The Don seemed to agree, but he still wore an annoyed look on his face. Lucky him he could even pull that, but the back of the building had been the safest after all. “You’re right. I apologize...”

“Just focus on getting better,” Yuri exhaled while standing up, letting his hand rest at his hip. “Once you do that you can worry about the finer pieces.” Karol looked up as Yuri gestured at him and nodded his head to Harry once before the pair left the building, the warmer air welcoming them.

Flynn would likely want a report on this in some manner since it seemed related to the same attacks in the Empire, but Yuri didn’t know how much of it he wanted to share. This happened in the guild’s lands, so it was a guild issue at the core.

He hoped it wasn’t a global issue now, at least.

Repede was waiting for the pair as they reached guild headquarters and stood up, stretching, as Yuri opened the wooden doors, letting some musty air reach inside the room. Raven hadn’t lit any candles, probably expecting that they’d be gone for the solid portion of the night. It had already been at least a solid two hours since he’d spoken with him, so Yuri supposed sarcastically that he’d have been right. 

If only they still had blastia, but it couldn’t be helped. Yuri lit some candles for light as he walked across the room, showing Karol to his room in a rare show of kindness. 

Before the boy fully retired, he turned to face Yuri, an unreadable expression on his face. “Yuri... I thought the world’s problems would be solved once we defeated the Adephagos... But... It’s still like before.”

“Well, we still live in it,” Yuri explained while leaning against the doorframe. “As long as people are still here, they’ll have problems. It’s just up to us to solve them again.”

“I guess so. But I wish the problems wouldn’t get this bad.” He closed the door behind him, leaving Yuri almost swathed in darkness, the light of the candle flickering from the motion.

He thought the bigger problems would have been solved too, that the empire and guilds would finally not have a reason to fight and people would only get into monster problems. Guess it was just a trite dream.

He stepped closer to Raven’s room, but upon hearing nothing, he decided to head to his own. Repede’s steady but quiet pace kept up with his heels and as Yuri swung the door to his own room open, he settled next to the bed, lying down with a quiet whumph. Yuri set his sword to the side and sunk down onto his own blanket, leaning forward in thought. Harry hadn’t been the target of the attack. Who else would have been opportune? The meeting had adjourned by that time, Clint had attested to that. Was it a terror attack? A show of power?

Yuri sighed, no answers coming to mind, and he resigned himself to simply ask Aster about the fire tomorrow, get a head start on things.

Hopefully Flynn would be ok with that report waiting just a little longer until its ultimate finish

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My sister and I started an Unknown run on Vesperia (and I'm glad I did that 99 item extension lol..... gattuso... is brutal). This is our 4th playthrough and one thing we've noticed multiple times is that Raven... Rarely lies. Almost never. There was like one comment about some jungle or something that we don't know about, when he's in jail with Yuri. It's really sad.  
> That said, even though I've played this game 3+ times sometimes I'll make consistency errors. As far as spirits go, I'm taking lots of liberties, but if I screw up something major about the past, I'll probably edit it. I've also read the Damuron manga twice, so I'm trying to work that stuff in too. Helps you understand Alexei...  
> Anyway, happy reading~


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I almost gave up on writing Karol, it got that bad. Glad I pulled through and, somehow, this is the longest chapter so far.

The embers burning in Karol’s eyes were incredibly drying and he figured had he been half the person he was now he’d turn tail and flee, saving himself at least even if no one else. He couldn’t do anything, so why waste the effort? But now Repede was inside the building, that girl Aster was shrinking the flames, and Yuri was organizing a bucket effort. Everyone else was working, so he didn’t think twice about dashing in the building once the flames had dipped to a respectable height. 

The front foyer that he was so used to seeing was blackened, gross, and musty. The formal air it had once held had vanished, swallowed by the creepy magic that had darkened it. He looked over and noticed that the pot of flames had spilled over, but was no longer crackling with life. Had that been what caused the fire? It seemed unlikely. Harry wasn’t the type to keep unknown, lively magic. Neither was the Don. 

As soon as he crossed his mind, Karol bit his tongue, pressing onwards. Thank goodness he had his hammer, it seemed to be cooling his hands and the air around him. The few others that had followed him spread out to the sides while Karol pushed forward to the main room in the back. That would be where Harry was, Karol knew that much.  

Would he find his body? Would he find Raven’s body? He hadn’t seen the old man since he’d adjourned from headquarters to return to the Union.  Could Raven even die that way? If his blastia was still operational... Well, he hadn’t died from Baction. Karol gritted his teeth and forced that thought out of his mind. He had to find Harry, that would be his only goal right now. 

It made all of the security he’d built in the last two years seem... fragile. Like it had no purpose pretending it kept him safe. The friendships he built and the business he’d accomplished seemed easily demolished like the building. The metaphors kept flooding his mind, even as he breached the end room and began shoving forth, moving crumpled wood and brick out of his way. 

He didn’t see any bodies at least. Harry seemed to have been alone and this seemed to be accurate; Karol encountered his fallen form at the end, the crushed chair behind him. He must have been standing up. He leaned down, touching Harry’s neck. He seemed to be still alive at least, and unburned. He must have been knocked out by falling wood. Feeling more confident, Karol hitched him over his shoulder before debating whether or not to traverse the ruined Union floor again, or take a back way out. 

As he heard noises of desperate movement, Karol figured he’d do better off to go the way he came, and exited the long hallway to see a few clusters of people, injured and otherwise. He froze as he saw some immobile bodies, the people surrounding shaking their heads with pity. One looked up to him and shrugged. “Can’t save everyone I guess.” 

He bit his tongue, but moved over to someone suffering from burn injuries. Though he wasn’t nearly as good a healer as Estelle, at least he could ease some pain. Unfortunately for Harry, he couldn’t do much about concussions, so after aiding those with visible wounds, he exited the building and headed for the inn after some orders. 

It had been adjusted for injured people fairly quickly and Karol wondered just how long he’d been scrounging through the building. It hadn’t seemed that long, but he supposed he’d also been pretty lost in thought. He laid Harry down on one of the prepared beds, avoiding the looks of the other injured people before realizing that he was probably the best help they could get right now. Other healers surrounded the beds, but few and far between (Karol cursed himself lightly for sending Cas with Judith, he’d be a godsend right now).  

Even after saving the world and seeing people die, the sight of injury still made him squeamish. He bit his tongue again and set himself to work. 

The thought of Raven’s likely survival made work easier (he hadn’t seen his body after all and he’d have been by Harry), but when the older man entered the inn to assist with more healing Karol still felt a bit upset. When Karol asked what he’d been doing all night, Raven answered quickly that he’d been helping with healing at the scene before deciding, after choice words with Yuri, that he’d better check out the inn. “What, you think I got hurt? Your old man is better than that.” 

“I was worried about you Raven!” Karol bit back while carefully mending a large cut, hands shaking with worry and concentration as he furrowed his eyebrows. “You were going to the Union and then we didn’t see you... Yuri didn’t say, but... I thought you had been...” 

He heard Raven sigh slowly and sit down next to him before he guided his hand carefully over the cut, almost startling Karol, but he recovered quickly. “Sorry for worryin you. Guess we just happened to miss each other both times.” 

“Guess so.” Karol finished healing the cut and Raven stood up again and patted Karol on the shoulder. 

“You’re doin good, kid. Keep at it while I catch Yuri again. Something’s up and he and I want to get to the bottom of it.” 

“Something...?” Karol stood up after Raven took a few steps further and frowned. “Is it about the fire? Aster said it was weird.” 

“Aster did?” Raven’s eyes grew darker and hidden, something that Karol had only seen a few times and mostly before he knew Schwann’s persona. “Guess I need to play catch-up with her too...” 

“She didn’t do it, did she?” Karol’s voice shook at the thought. She seemed like such a nice person, but the connection was certainly there. Yuri thought so at least, and Karol couldn’t disagree. But Raven shook his head. 

“I doubt it. She was with you all, right?” 

“Y-yea, but a group did it...” Raven shrugged at Karol’s comment and he wondered for a second what he was hiding. 

“I’m gatherin info. Hopefully we’ll work out something.” He waved once, winking, and moved around the inn, asking the injured questions about what they’d seen. Karol sighed, worried, but turned back to his work regardless. 

As a guild leader, it was the least he could do. 

The next day came with little more than a welcoming sunrise to Karol’s tired eyes, eyelids heavy with little sleep and stresses of the previous day. Despite the overwhelming urge to just roll over and try to go back to sleep, Karol pulled himself out of the sheets and dressed, pulling cleaner pants on than yesterday. He didn’t bother trying to put up his hair, it would be too much effort at this point, and he retired to the main room. 

For a minute he debated whether or not he should start the day by getting through some paperwork (the idea always made his head hurt, but it was unavoidable), but he figured he should check in with the inn. If he was lucky he could find Aster and get a head start on questioning her. Yuri would probably still be asleep and Raven slept like a log after anything tiring, so Karol was likely the first on the scene. 

The inn door swung open with a snap and Karol jumped back, surprised at his own strength before he composed himself, the innkeeper sending him a grateful, and slightly humorous, smile. He looked over the sleeping victims, noticing that their injuries seemed at least less worse that the evening prior, but the burn marks still unnerved him. Lucky them that there were two Fortune’s Market chains in the area. Since it had been a state of emergency, they’d allowed free use of the healing items. Thank goodness for that, he thought again as he sat by Harry’s bedside, waiting for him to wake up again. 

People moved around the inn with purpose, swinging the door open and shut every few minutes, but when someone tapped Karol on his shoulder he still startled regardless and almost fell off of his stool in an embarrassing display of lack of awareness. “Huh, what?” 

Mae stepped back, embarrassed in kind that he’d reacted in such an exaggerated fashion and Karol rubbed the back of his neck, looking away. “I was looking for you... Repede led me here.” She turned to look at the helpful dog and Repede yipped at the acknowledgement. Mae turned back as Karol’s heartbeat returned to normal. “I was just wondering if this would impede anything...” She paused and waved her hands frantically. “It’s not like I’m annoyed! Leviathan’s Claw is doing their best to help as well, but I also wanted to check in...” 

“I guess now that Yeager’s not the leader, you guys are more willing to get your hands dirty...” Karol leaned back as Mae put on an especially annoyed expression, crossing her arms. 

“Just because you’ve had some bad scrapes in the past doesn’t justify your unfounded hatred of the guild... We’re like you. Trying to make things better.” 

“You’re a weapons-dealing guild that was stealing from Ruin’s Gate,” Karol argued back quickly but quietly and turned back to face Harry. “It’s not unfounded.” 

“Yeager was wrapped around the Empire’s little finger. We couldn’t do anything about that then, but now we’re trying to make an effort, so at least acknowledge that, ok?” Mae sat down with a huff next to him. “Is there a delay or not?” 

“I don’t know,” Karol muttered. “I’m not a doctor or an architect. It’s Brave Vesperia’s duty to help out with what’s needed. It’ll take... however long it does.” 

Mae didn’t seem too satisfied with that answer, but made her way across the inn as the other victims slowly woke up and began moving around. After Karol shared some choice words with one of the men, she came back over with an apple gel. “Here’s for the Don. Apparently he got a head injury?” Karol nodded and set it on the bedside table as she sat down again. 

“Do you know anything about this, Mae?” Karol looked at her quickly to see if he could notice any change in expression, but she merely shrugged and shook her head. 

“I’d never seen anything like it. The last thing we could do is organize such a group effort anyway...” She trailed off, voice quieting, but quickly composed herself, so quick that Karol wondered what she’d been thinking. “Anyway, I also wanted to add that I thought you were pretty brave yesterday.” She rubbed the back of her neck and leaned back, also avoiding eye contact. “I don’t think I could have done that, especially with Aster being so stiff with instructions...” 

“Well, you did  _something_ , right?” Karol prompted with a huff. “What did you do?” 

She shrugged, but leaned her elbows on her knees, looking out the window. “Just helped get people to the inn, clear away debris... I didn’t do much. It was Brave Vesperia and Aster that really saved the day.” 

“It’s just what we’re used to, I guess... Brave Vesperia, anyway,” Karol admitted with a light chuckle and Mae mirrored it in kind. “We couldn’t just stand to the side and do nothing, of course.” 

“I saw a few people doing nothing... I guess there’s always got to be a few duds in a group, right?” She glanced at Karol, another unreadable expression (those had been popping up a lot recently...) and Karol tilted his head, about to mutter something questioning, but she shook her head, waving her hand. “Doesn’t matter. Everything’s better now, so that’s what’s good, right?” She stood up and dusted off her shorts. “Sorry about the bit of outburst. If there’s anything the Union needs help with, I’ll be available.” 

Karol stood up as well and shook her hand. “I wouldn’t worry about a long delay. There’s stuff that we can’t do after all, and that’s usually what Harry and Raven get to.” 

“Raven... The Altosk member?” Karol nodded and Mae pressed a finger to her cheek. “He seems... Unreliable. But what would I know?” She waved and exited the inn, leaving Karol more unnerved than before. 

“Unreliable... I wonder if this was caused... by something, or someone, being unreliable.” 

. . . 

He and Yuri went to question Aster later. The older man hadn’t exactly explained why he wanted to ‘interrogate’ her, as he so eloquently put it, but the issue of the fire certainly had dug under Karol’s own skin in a way that he desperately wanted to put at rest.  As they reached her location (the local bar that Raven liked to frequent during his depressive episodes), her back straightened and she clasped her hands together. She must have expected this, Karol figured. “Is everything going ok?” She asked, voice light, as Yuri sank into the chair opposite her while Karol sat near him. He felt his skin prickle at seeing the slight antagonism behind her red eyes and hoped Yuri wouldn’t get on her bad side so quickly.

“Fine. We’ll have to arrange funerals later, of course, but those that survived the fire won’t die,” Yuri said, waving his hand before ordering a glass. The sounds of the bar were loud in Karol’s ears and he was surprised that she’d visit such a place to begin with. “That fire sure was something, wasn’t it? Karol told me it may have had something to do with the dish in the main hall. What do you think?” 

Aster shrugged her shoulders and Karol felt nervous already and picked at the seams of his pants. She took a long sip of her drink, setting the cup down with a quiet clink. “I’ve never been in the Union myself, but it would be incredibly stupid of the Don to keep such a dangerous weapon out in the open. The fire itself was cursed. Whether it was recent or lingering I haven’t a clue. My hope would be recent, it would make things easier.” 

“You gonna elucidate us as to how you know all this?” 

Karol figured that he’d just let Yuri take the reins. All he could do was observe both parties and keep his own view as objective as possible. That was what someone was supposed to do, right? He shifted on his chair. 

“Experience in the past. Less than pleasant.” She closed her eyes and took another long drink. “From what I learned then, this type of magic was only mastered by Krityans, so you’ll have to look at them for answers.” 

A chill ran through Karol’s spine at the verdict. Krityans, really? The people who were pleased at staying far away from the world and violence? It seemed unrealistic. “Krityans... They’re peaceful... Right?” 

“Some are, some aren’t, just like humans,” Aster concluded, setting her cup down and Yuri leaned forward. “Perhaps that information has been spread onwards, but considering their stance I’d say it’s unlikely. Does this help you narrow suspects down at all?” Aster asked sweetly, but Karol kept getting a cold chill from her words. She must have not liked the implications of him and Yuri coming to question her alone. 

“Not really. The only Krityans I know are thousands of miles away from here,” Yuri sighed, leaning back again before accepting his drink from the waiter. “Elucidate me.” 

Aster sighed, concealing a roll of her eyes from Yuri’s angle, and pursed her lips. “You’re going to have to trust me when I say I’ve had nothing to do with this.” She placed a hand on her chest and met Yuri’s gaze full on. “I would not gain anything from the attack of the Union, personal or otherwise. If anything I’m trying to get on better terms with them, even if I’m affiliated with the Empire in spirit.” 

“A soldier girl? Or something else,” Yuri mused, turning his glass in his hands, and Aster frown deepened. 

“None of your business.” 

Karol couldn’t blame her for being tight-lipped. When Yuri wanted information, he didn’t ever go about it kindly. “Why do you think the Union was attacked in the first place? Harry wasn’t even burned,” Karol supposed, turning his attention fully to her again, and she shrugged. 

“I have no clue. If anything it was a show. Likely to scare people, open them up for another attack. That takes time, however, and repetitiveness...” She drifted off into her thoughts, touching her chin with her finger before she waved her hand. “I haven’t seen the attacks in the Empire personally, but it’s likely they’re linked. Perhaps by a group that prefers the two stay separate.” 

“Then they’re idiots because the two  _are_ separate,” Yuri argued before taking a decent drink of his beer, frowning all the while, and Karol rubbed his arms. 

“What if it has something to do with the blastia?” 

“I suppose then their motto would be ‘better late than never’,” Aster chuckled, but not in an unkind way. “From my understanding, both the Union and the Empire are faring well without them, now that they’ve had two years to settle in.” She touched the draping fabric on her skirt and Karol noticed the dulled flicker of a spent core in replacement of a charm. “I have as well. Look at me now.” 

“Bitterness seeps and grows,” Yuri argued again, but didn’t seem to disagree altogether and he finally leaned back forward. “Your magic skill is remarkable, but I bet others weren’t as lucky.” 

“No doubt.” 

They didn’t seem to be getting much anymore, but at least Karol now knew that it was a Krityan magic, if Aster was to be trusted. Once Judith got back later that day (already!) they could ask her, or Cas. “Maybe we’ll learn more once the report is done.” Karol turned to Yuri and the man nodded. 

“I suppose we’ve gotten all the information we can dig from here.” 

“If you’d like my help with cohesive writing I’d be glad to assist you,” Aster suggested, but Yuri shook his head. 

“Sorry, that’s classified information. But thanks for the offer.” 

“I hope that you’ll be able to find whatever you’re looking for,” Aster mentioned again before Yuri and Karol stood up and he looked back at her with a slight frown. She dipped her head. “I’ve heard about the ventures of Brave Vesperia... If anyone can calm the world, it’s you all.” 

Karol wasn’t so sure. This wasn’t about working behind the scenes anymore, they were involved in events that could shake both the Empire and Union. It wasn’t about beating the bad guys anymore, defeating monsters... This was about past mistakes, past enemies that they didn’t know about. Lots of things they didn’t know about. 

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I think you’ll have to credit Flynn with the success,” Yuri answered back, pulling Karol’s attention from his thoughts again. “He’s the one who bought us out.” 

“Lucky him for getting you,” Aster joked as she turned back to her drink, settling back in the ambient noise, and Karol followed Yuri out the door. 

He leaned up against the wall, eyes unfocused ahead in thought. “What do you think, Yuri? Does it sound good?” 

“It sounds like a pain in the ass,” Yuri sighed, but closed his eyes. “I’m not sure what to think and Flynn doesn’t have good leads either. This is the best shot we have. If we lose it, more innocent people will get hurt...” 

“I suppose the person would have already fled Dahngrest,” Karol lamented while looking toward the bridge. “If they really were a Krityan, they’d be easily spotted too...” 

“There’s still those around town we can ask, but I doubt we’d get far,” Yuri supposed, leaning back off of the wall while Karol took a step forward, falling behind him. “All we can do now is wait for Judith and the rest to get back and compile information. You’ve still got those files from Flynn, right?” 

Karol nodded. “Yea... It’s gonna take forever to get through them though... There’s lots of small things that don’t really matter...” 

“That’s the knights for you,” Yuri chuckled before he ruffled Karol’s hair, eliciting a squeak of annoyance from the guild leader. “They’ll record anything.” 

Reading through the papers later, Karol realized that they really did record everything. Thanks to that, Karol was able to match a blade’s description with Raven’s. “Huh. Guess that fake weapons-dealing group and the Empire really were tangled up.” He wondered if it was Leviathan’s Claw’s fault again, but figured that even the current guild members wouldn’t know. If it was something between Yeager and Alexei, that would be long gone. He set aside the papers and watched as Raven leafed through them. 

A few more minutes passed and the doors swung open, Judith holding them for Cas, Rayne, and Jun with a careful hand before she let it shut behind her. Karol stood up as the three newest recruits came up front. “How were things in Ilyccia?” 

Rayne gave him a thumbs up while smiling, teeth showing. “No problem! Just some monsters that thought the taste of human food was just too good to resist. Did take a few days to get them under control, but it’s no problem.” 

“We gathered the required materials,” Cas supplemented while Judith shared a few words with Yuri and Raven. “They’ll be prepped for delivery tomorrow.” 

“Ok...” Karol nodded his head once while Rayne crossed her arms behind her back. “I’ll figure out who goes on that... I want you to go to the inn right now, Cas, and help out with the injured.” Cas tilted his head with confusion, but Karol shook his head. “No time to explain. It’s better that you’re here now than tomorrow.” 

“Right away, boss.” Cas seemed confused, but left the headquarters quickly while Rayne and Jun caught gazes, confused. 

Karol sighed and sat down again, rubbing his forehead. “Ugh... Rayne, I want you to go with Repede to Aurnion. Jun and Yuri will hold the fort here while the rest of us prepare for a mission in... seven days. You can wait until tomorrow of course,” Karol blurted out, waving his hands, “but we’re stretched pretty thin...” 

“Well, we’re a pretty popular guild after all,” Rayne admitted carefully, but seemed more interested in Karol’s stress. “What happened? Cas sure had to leave in a hurry.” 

Karol pursed his lips and leaned his hands on the table and Jun took a half step back. “The Union was attacked last night. We don’t know who did it, or where they are. Yuri and Raven are looking into it, but... We don’t know.” 

Rayne seemed to drop her energy, adopting a more worried expression, and Jun seemed more stoic than normal. “Were there any casualties?” 

“Yea... Six people died. At least there weren’t more.” 

“The Don?”  

“He’s ok. Concussion, but no burns.” Rayne tilted her head and Karol nodded once. “There was a fire. It was... nothing like we’d seen before. Someone told us that it was Krityan magic, so that’s what Yuri’s asking Judith about now. Once Cas comes back we’ll have to ask him too.” 

“Krityan magic?” Jun seemed skeptical and closed his eyes. “From what I’ve learned, magic is universal.” 

“Yea, but Krityans can talk to Entelexeia, so who knows what they’d learn from that.” Sure, Karol supposed, the Entelexeia were mostly spirits now, but from what Judith had said she could still sense them more than ordinary people. “Maybe we should ask Estelle too.” 

“The Empire’s still incredibly busy, from what we learned from the people of Halure,” Rayne sighed, but assumed a more normal position. “There was another attack on a village, items were stolen. Not sure what, but from what I heard it was weapons based.” 

“The fake weapons dealing then?” Karol couldn’t be sure and he supposed Rayne couldn’t either, but at least it was a start. “I wonder why this is all happening now? Why not right after we got rid of the blastia?” 

“It takes time to re-learn stuff. Maybe they’re only now ready.” Rayne shrugged at Jun’s dull expression and retired to her room. He turned back to face Karol. 

“She’s right, I guess...” Karol sighed and leaned on the desk. “Ugh... I guess overthinking it won’t do us any good... With Yuri around, something will happen again...” 

“Right now we should focus on our requests,” Jun agreed, face as calm as ever, and Karol looked up. “If we travel enough, we’ll find more information.” 

“Yea, I guess you’re right...” Karol rubbed his head, moving his hair a bit, and leafed through the papers again. “Guess I’ll start on that report...” 

Aster and Mae visited again about an hour after Cas returned from the inn, dropped off papers, left to do other things, and before Karol knew it, it was already dinner. He thought about visiting Harry, but he was probably already excused from the inn and it would be the first time in a while that the whole guild could share a meal together, so he gathered everyone around as Judith and Raven cooked. Repede curled up in a corner while Rayne placed some plates on the table. 

“Everyone is expected to make a full recovery, so that’s good news,” Cas shared as he sat down at the nearest chair while Karol set aside some papers. “The funerals for the people will be held tomorrow. They’ll be buried in the east cemetery.” 

“Where the Don is, huh?” Rayne mused quietly as she placed the last dish and sat down next to Cas, crossing her arms as she did so. “Guess they were that sort of casualty...”  

Rayne had been in the hunting blades for longer than Karol and had witnessed the death of the Don, so Karol didn’t feel perturbed by her awkward tone. She’d likewise respected him greatly and she’d even shared that with him a few times, usually when he felt under the weather. After she learned about the creation of Brave Vesperia, nearly having to drag specifics out of Nan, she requested to join, leaving her affiliation to the Hunting Blades behind. Karol was grateful for such an experienced fighter to want to join his guild and he welcomed her with open arms. After that, Yuri and Judith seemed more willing to find other members. 

 Judith and Raven walked the dishes to the front and the Krityan sat down with a sigh. “It is unfortunate, but what matters is that we move on and use the event as motivation, not something to drag us down.” 

“Ah, you always know what to say Judith darlin’,” Raven drawled, but there seemed to be less spunk in his voice than normal, Karol noted. Over time, he’d slowly let the accent drop from his speech (something he’d told Karol once was almost a pain to remember), but there would still be inconsistencies that Yuri would sometimes tease him about. “Won’t be as easy to convince the families, but we’ll do what we can.” 

“The rebuilding effort will start tomorrow, but since we have to go to Heliord for the next reports, I guess we can’t help out much with that,” Yuri admitted while he clapped his hands together once, muttering a prayer before he leaned over and grabbed the nearest entre. “Flynn’s last letter said that he’d found some files that Alexei hid, but he didn’t know how useful they’d be. Mostly stuff about blastia developments.” 

“Well, anything’s useful at this point, right?” Rayne sighed, waving her fork in the air, almost touching her white hair, before she took another bite of her steak. “If this is really connected to Yurzorea, we may want to schedule a guild expedition there. It’s a practically deserted continent after all, the only guild with stakes is the springs and they’re not looking at further development.” 

“Maybe asking them would be the best start, then?” Karol questioned quickly, rubbing his knuckles, and Rayne shrugged. 

“All we know is that there’s a magical fire from Krityan magic which may be related to missions in Yurzorea from when the Union and Empire pulled out. We can take what we get.” 

“The Krityan continent is Hypionia, though,” Cas countered with his usual quiet voice and Judith nodded in agreement. “Other than the sacred land, there’s no other settlement that I’m aware of.” 

“Temza was destroyed twelve years ago after all,” Judith said, letting out a long sigh and Raven narrowed his eyes. 

“At least we have a start.” Yuri turned to face Jun with a small smirk. “Anything you feel like adding?” 

“Nothing that hasn’t already been addressed.” 

“Ahh, curt as ever,” Rayne sighed before slapping him on the back, causing him to frown and look away. “Your stupendous opinion is appreciated. Like the last one. And then the first one.” 

Karol smiled at that. Leave it to Rayne to diffuse a slightly tense situation. “Anyway, thanks for cooking again, Judith and Raven. It tastes great!” 

“That’s because I didn’t let Raven near the desserts,” Judith smiled, a light smirk on her face, and Raven placed a hand to his chest, wounded. 

“My dear, that’s too harsh, even for you. Wasn’t my contribution helpful?” 

“Well, I suppose having someone to cut up the onions did help with time management.” Judith bit into her meal, still smiling as Raven shrugged his shoulders, letting his head roll to the side with disappointment while Yuri laughed. 

Karol could also imagine Rita adding something scathing to the conversation, Estelle trying to convince Raven that he was still cooking fine... Maybe he should plan a trip to Halure in the near future to visit again. Rita was always making some sort of discovery about spirits and Estelle was Estelle. 

He missed that he couldn’t see them every day like during their travels, but everything had ended well. He should just be thankful that Estelle (and Raven) hadn’t died. 

Yuri seemed to notice that he was a bit lost in thoughts so he tapped the table with his fork, quiet enough for Rayne and Jun on the opposite side to not notice, but it jerked Karol out of his thoughts. “Got another plan, cap’n?” 

Karol smiled, but shook his head. “Not a plan. Just some good memories.” 

Raven shot him a side eye, but quickly looked away back toward Judith. 

Even if some were bad, Karol would treasure those memories regardless. “So, Raven, I guess you can’t do stuff for the Union right now...” 

“Nah,” Raven sighed, turning back to his meal, and picked at it. “Harry wants me to stay in Dahngrest for patrol watch. Guess I’ll play tag-along with your rebuilding efforts until the desert mission. It’s the least I can do, right?” 

“So, what’s the plan for the desert?” Rayne started, cleverly segueing into another conversation. “I know you and Raven are going, but what about Cas?” 

“He’ll be too busy for the next few days...” Karol paused and rubbed his forehead. “Since Jun’s the one on the mission, Cas’ll stay here and help heal...” He sighed, eating another bite of his meal. “I think I have a better idea than going to the desert.” He turned to the Krityan and Cas straightened at attention. “I want you to ask your Krityan friends about that magic. After everyone’s ok, of course. The desert mission should be done... In two weeks. Maybe more. That should be enough time to travel somewhere. Just ask Ba’ul if you need a lift.” 

“Ok.” Cas nodded once and closed his eyes. “Sounds like a plan.” 

“Flynn better pay out of the nose for these reports,” Yuri sighed as he ripped his bread roll in half. “I know he’s the commandant and all, but it’s still a pain to get this stuff, regulations be damned.” 

“The knights are too stiff for that sort of stuff ya know,” Raven said, catching Karol’s attention, and he grinned. “What sort of payment are you eyeing? Not like ya to get emotionally invested in the dough.” He waggled his eyebrows at the younger man while Yuri turned away, shoulders stiff, but Karol could catch the faintest of redness on his cheeks. 

“I dunno, something for the guild headquarters? Classified stuff, old man, gotta raise your rank before you get the details.” Raven huffed at the succinct and unsatisfying answer, but Judith turned to teasing him in Raven’s place. He was just glad they didn’t find the time to ask about Nan, though he hadn’t seen her in a while. The Hunting Blades were incredibly busy after all and losing Rayne last year had actually put a dent in their progress. 

But, all in all, things were going well. One or two extremist groups wouldn’t ruin the world, not when Brave Vesperia was on the case and, with that satisfying thought in his head, Karol turned back to his meal. 

. . .  

“So... Why are we here again? Aren’t there better things we could be doing?” Karol rested his arm in his hand, tired from helping move bricks for the union, but also confused as to why Raven would drag him to the bar this late in the day. “Yuri said we still need more wood...” 

Raven waved his hand, a stupid smile on his face, and Karol sighed again. “It’s time to relax! We’ve spent all day working, the Union’s not goin anywhere. Best to not run yourself into the ground before Desier.” 

“Yea, but still...” 

“Remember how Aster said she was a singer?” Karol immediately frowned at Raven’s comment, but the man made an indignant face. ”It’s not what ya think! She said she’d be puttin on a show to raise moral. Just thought I’d... Well, I’m part of the Union, so it’s my duty...” 

“You’re terrible, Raven...” Karol ignored the older man as he tried to explain himself and instead decided to focus on tonight’s clientele. He hadn’t often visited the bars, he wasn’t much interested in underage drinking, though he had waited tables a few times for this establishment. It wasn’t the most fun thing he’d ever done, but Estelle had told him his uniform was absolutely adorable. He hadn’t much liked that word choice at first, but now he held onto those words, hoping he could see his friend again soon. They’d both been much too busy lately... 

They received their appetizer (Karol figured he’d just get a full meal back at headquarters) and Raven ordered a drink, getting something kid-friendly for Karol. “Are you going to get really drunk again?” Karol sighed as he watched with bored eyes.

“Since when have I ever gotten really drunk?” Raven countered before Karol started counting on his fingers silently, making him frown. “That last time doesn’t count!” 

“Yuri said he found you passed out on the couch in the Don’s office and had to drag you back. Don’t you remember that?” 

“...No...” 

Karol couldn’t understand Raven’s affinity towards alcohol; Yuri almost never drank, not around him at any rate, and he was pretty sure Judith was equally uninterested, at least to the local Dahngrest varieties. He was sure she’d appreciate something refined with Estelle, but most of the group just didn’t see the appeal. “Then that means you were really drunk.” 

“Ah, you know how memory gets in old age... Maybe it just slipped my mind...” 

“Replaced by all of the alcohol then.” Karol hid a smirk as Raven raised an eyebrow, but eventually the ambient noise of the bar was joined with the sounds of the piano near the back. Raven leaned back so that he could see better, resting his arm on the back of his chair, and Karol looked between the two with interest. Karol hadn’t met Aster before and had only seen Mae in passing, but even he noticed the weird look Raven had given the older woman. He wouldn’t say it was a knowing glance, so he probably hadn’t met her at a bar somewhere. It had almost been a look of fear, which Karol didn’t know how to feel about.  

She hadn’t taken too well to Yuri, but Karol figured that wasn’t a unique experience. She’d been nicer to him, he supposed, but there was still something... unnerving about her that he couldn’t put his finger on. After they saved the world, or maybe even before then, Karol felt something like a sixth sense growing, able to determine bad situations without him even realizing. He didn’t know if she herself was the cause of it or simply her being here at this time, but there was certainly something strange. Maybe if Raven hadn’t been acting so suspicious he wouldn’t have had that feeling at all, but there were too many pieces to just ignore. First Raven’s expression, then the fire, then Aster stepping around Yuri’s questions. Someone was hiding something and Karol didn’t like that being unmentioned. 

But he couldn’t as Raven about it, especially not now. He probably wouldn’t take him too seriously anyway... 

And the song was already over and Karol realized he’d zoned out during the entire thing and now Aster was standing up and sharing some words with the bartenders and some patrons. 

She’d ditched her travel clothes from the other day, the overcoat and longer pants, and donned a more showy outfit, something that didn’t quite fit in with Dahngrest, but something that definitely didn’t reflect anything the Empire created. If anything he’d liken it to Judith’s outfit, but that’d be the top only, and even then a sheer, black fabric covered her midsection, darkening her skin. Her skirt was also more oriented for casual wear, something that an archer would definitely have an easier time with compared to a spearmaster. He didn’t know if she’d be wearing that to Temza, but it wouldn’t be terrible at Mantaic at least. Judith wore stranger. 

“Cute song. Reminded me of Yuri and his buddy,” Raven commented and Karol blinked his eyes. 

“Uh... Yea, I guess so.” 

“Ah kid, ya’ve no taste for good music...” 

“Are you saying it’s good music because she’s a hot woman or you really think that?” Karol deadpanned, causing Raven to inhale his drink and splutter for a few seconds. 

After coughing, Raven continued with an embarrassed, “I have good ears! I can tell when somethin’s sophisticated! Whaddaya take me for?” He sighed and shook his head after clearing his throat and Karol turned back as Aster started her next song. 

Karol hadn’t been one much for music. Even in the Musicians guild and the Acting guild he hadn’t really had much of a penchant for it. His voice wasn’t just suited for it, even if he could at least match a note. He hadn’t really taken Nan as one either. Or Rita. He didn’t know what to think about Raven or Yuri, but he figured that both Judith and Estelle could probably sing, they had nice voices. The guildmaster of the Musicians guild said that really what Karol needed was practice, more than others, but he wasn’t hopeless, but at that point Karol had already moved on. 

This song definitely seemed more bittersweet, though it was still a love song, something that Karol wondered would really be the best option for raising the moods of the Dahngrest residents. Until she moved to the second half he held onto that mindset, but after hearing the optimistic last few bars, he figured such a motivational song was probably a good choice on her part. 

She moved onto some folk song next that a Dahngrest resident had likely shared with her and Karol turned to face Raven, but stopped as he noticed a rather somber expression on his face. Pausing for a second, he asked, “Raven, are you ok?” 

He exhaled slowly, but eventually turned to the guildmaster, forcing a smile onto his face. “I’m fine... Just... brought back memories is all...” 

“...Is it about Casey...?” Even though it’d been now twelve years since the Great War, Karol could tell that Raven had never really moved on from his friend. Of course he like Rita and Estelle thought there was some unrequited love involved, but even he hadn’t been that hung up about his dead parents for that long. Though, he also had barely known them... 

“Yea...” His smile slowly morphed to a more natural one, but Karol still felt sorry for him. “I suppose if I could I’d also write a letter to her like the protagonist of that song... Tell her that I’d give my life for her if it meant she could have been here...” He paused, leaving Karol slightly worried before he continued with an added, “But I’m also a bit glad she saved me so that I could meet you all.” 

“Did you...?” Karol trailed off, losing confidence. He couldn’t just ask Raven  _now_ if he’d loved Casey, not when Karol still felt like he didn’t really know what love meant. After he’d saved the world and things still hadn’t change between him and Nan, he wondered if he’d really loved her after all, or if she’d really had feelings for him back. It was all so complicated, but with adults it seemed so easy... 

“Hm?” 

“N-never mind...” Karol turned back to watch the rest of Aster’s performances and stood up with Raven at the conclusion. She ended up making her way over toward them and smiled at Karol, waving slightly. 

“I didn’t expect a Brave Vesperia representative to be here, but it makes since. You care about this city a lot, don’t you?” 

How couldn’t he? Karol was born and raised there. It was a haven, somewhere he knew he could always return. Even if the Don no longer resided there, it held too many memories: those old and those new. Also, there was practically no other place for a guild to reside... He nodded once, smiling back. “Yep! I was born here and this is where most guilds do work, so you can talk with anybody about anything.” 

“’Course, the kid failed to mention the once-in-a-lifetime sunsets here,” Raven added quickly, another stupid smile on his face, and Aster turned to face him, her own face decidedly blank. “Quite a marvel, ya think?” 

“It certainly defies most science, that’s true,” she admitted slowly, but ended up turning back to Karol. “I hope this... matter hasn’t caused our escort to be delayed much. While I feel for the residents here, I do have a bit of a schedule. Is there any issue with the timing?” 

“Nah, we guilds put our requests first, especially when they’re important,” Karol stated evenly. Aster still put him off; she’d say such heartless things, even if they were true. Did she not have tact? “Everyone’s also been pitching in to help, so it’s going faster than Harry thought.” 

“I’m glad that I’ve been able to help at least a bit,” she admitted with a small smile on her lips before she rubbed her cheek. “I haven’t a clue as to why Dahngrest of all places would be targeted... It’s like trying to annoy a Giganto Monster... You don’t do it if you value your life.” 

“Yea,” Karol sighed, crossing his arms while Raven scratched the back of his neck, “we still can’t figure out why this happened. We’re getting closer, but...” 

“That’s what ya get for tryin to reason with terrorists,” Raven sighed with admission, shaking his head, and Aster frowned. 

“I wonder if they were...” She trailed off and paused and shook her head. “No, that wouldn’t make sense, never mind.” 

Karol watched Raven frown for half a second before he smiled again, patting Aster on the shoulder to startle her out of her musings. “Well, we’ve already got somethin to work offa, so you needn’t worry yer pretty head.” 

 _Ah, there it is..._ Karol sighed while feeling his shoulders slump and Aster slowly pushed Raven’s hand off of her own. 

“Perhaps I ‘needn’t’, but I shall. I have my own connections with that fire that I need to work out before I can eliminate options of my own.” At that, Raven pulled away and Karol grabbed his hand. 

“Let’s go before it gets too late. We still have lots of work to do tomorrow. And the day after that.” Karol waved at Aster and made to leave. He almost had to pull the older man out of the bar, which annoyed him slightly, but figured it was better than Yuri fetching him passed out in a chair again. 

“Ahh, she’s so hard to read!” Raven complained, ruffling his hair as they made their way back to headquarters. 

“You’re the same!” Karol retorted, his lips thinning into a line. “What’s with you being even more Dahngrest than normal?” 

“What’s  _that_ supposed to mean?” He shot Karol a rather indignant look that Karol probably would have found funny in another situation, but right now he was just annoyed. 

“You’re not doing it now.” Karol paused, gesturing his hand in circles. “Your accent. You played it up at the bar. I know it’s not natural for you, not like the Don or other Dahngrest natives, so why were you so forced?” There was  _something_ going on, something that Karol couldn’t even clue at, and by golly he was going to get to the bottom of it eventually. Just another piece of paper on the pile of never-ending chores and jobs he had to do, but at least this one was related to the guild in some way, even if Raven wasn’t really a member. 

Raven shrugged and crossed his arms behind his head, playing up his act again. “Dunno. Heat of the moment maybe? Those folk songs must have gotten to me.” 

“Yea right...” At any rate, he wouldn’t be able to get anything out of him now, not when Karol was already too tired. “If you’re hiding something dangerous, Yuri’ll get it out of you. You know that, right?” 

“Don’t worry, kid,” Raven smiled, tone softer than before, and looked at him from the corner of his eye. “Keepin secrets like that is a thing of the past.” 

Karol sure hoped it was, but if there was one thing Raven did well it was determining situations. If something was really dangerous, or needed to be known, Karol was certain he’d share it with everyone. 

He’d just have to wait it out until then. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much to comment on. Glad I pulled through, I love Karol. Precious son.  
> Happy reading~


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I have a job now, my motivation has been waning, but I'm almost done with chapter 5. I think I may have to do this bimonthly since sometimes it's hard to get scenarios out and once school starts......... ugh.

Seeing that flame in person for the first time in almost nine years had awakened feelings that Raven had long tried to hide away, especially as Schwann. The heat that burned away at his skin was unreal and his side itched. He was grateful for Yuri assigning him a task that put as much distance between him and that fire as possible.  

He headed to the bar first to find a woman who was quite skilled with magic, then to the inn for a frequent visitor with experience in dark magic, before he swung around to the Fortune’s Market hub for the last decent spellcaster he could think of. 

Of course, Rita would be the most opportune person to find, but she was all the way in Halure. Raven could consider himself a close second (he’d had prior experience), but the thought of looking into the maw of hell again made him check himself. He resigned himself to gathering a few people around the river before heading back to the now smoldering Union.  

Yuri was still barking out orders like a madman while Repede and Karol were dragging survivors away from the wreckage. He could only see injured bodies, but figured that dead people would be low priority. He inhaled through his teeth before setting on to his task, only stopping the healing process to tell Yuri that he wasn’t nearly well-versed enough in light magic to perform to the capability the injured needed. He could heal some burns and cuts, maybe a broken bone, but bringing back someone halfway to death was not on his list of talents. Thankfully there seemed to be a few healers around, but even Cas seemed more proficient.  

Raven sighed and after he finished what paltry healing he could (quick visit to the inn included), he moved on to ask the survivors (the ones well enough to be sitting up, anyway) what exactly had happened. 

There didn’t seem to be much in the way of explanation, no one really knew what it was about, but those of Altosk shared their annoyance at a blatant terror attack. One mentioned some detail at how a person had died next to him, a close friend and a name Raven recognized (too many), but he figured he’d hide that specific from Yuri. He needn’t know. 

Raven stood up and dusted off his pants, figuring that Yuri had already gotten to most people since he was no longer in the area, but before he made his way over somewhere else, he noticed Aster out of the corner of his eye, sitting surrounded by a pile of rubble. She seemed exhausted, both physically and mentally, and Raven fought off the urge to speak to her. 

Only when he noticed the transform bow clasped in her right hand did he finally decide that he should share a few words with her. 

She looked up, delayed reaction and all, as he walked over and plunked himself on the ground a few feet from her side. “Interesting magic you used. Does it have something to do with that bow?” She glanced at the weapon in her hands, almost as if she’d forgotten she had it, before she sighed, closed it up, and tucked it under her overcoat of sorts.  

“My magic is from my own practice and innate ability. This bow merely helps when things get... Up close and personal.” 

“That’s a rare weapon you’ve got there,” Raven drawled, and she stiffened, perhaps expecting a confrontation. “Mind explainin where ya’ve gotten it from?” 

“It was...” She gulped and looked away while Raven narrowed his eyes. “It was a... parting gift of sorts, from my last... profession. I’m unfortunately no good with swords and due to my magic I prefer to be long-distance. But, of course, considering the lack of barriers and my extensive travel, I also need something to protect myself should things get bad.” She rubbed her neck, her hair falling over her shoulder in waves, and Raven sighed, leaning back as he closed his eyes. 

“I’m not mad or anything. It’s just...” Strange? Nostalgic? Unexpected to see someone with that technique again? After his brigade had died, no one but he had used the transform bow in battle. 

Not until Schwann had passed those techniques onto the person he most wanted to not get directly hurt in battle. A young girl, no more than fifteen who showed a penchant for using magic and discovering the worst information that could be held by an uninvolved person. 

Only after a few seconds did he realize he was leaving her hanging and in response he removed his own bow from his side, opening it up. “Usin this bow takes a lotta skill and work. Usually ya need someone to show you the basics.” 

Casey had spent the better part of a month just teaching the new brigade how to use the base techniques properly, like switching between forms. Raven (or Damuron, he supposed) had been a natural at it, but the others seemed more like fledgling ducks. From what little he could remember, Aster hadn’t been a natural, but also hadn’t been terrible, though those days seemed to be shrouded in a fog that his mind couldn’t break. 

“I had someone you could call a master, though I believe most of my talent comes from my work in perfecting such an art,” she replied. While not a direct stab at him, he could sense a bit of indignation from her. “My skill, however, still lies with magic...” 

“I was surprised that you were able to quell those flames, blastia-less as we are...” 

That at least was the truth. While Aster’d always had a certain penchant for magic (something that scared him on a good day), she wasn’t exactly on the technical side as their favorite blastia researcher was and without the proper spirit formulae knowledge, most people would be fishes in a barrel. 

“I’d had experience with that fire and I’ve also learned a lot about the spirits as I’ve traveled around,” she said, turning to smile at him. “You don’t need to worry about if my capabilities lie in treacherous places. I believe it’s just the strange situation painting me in shadow.” 

Schwann would never suspect Aster on the worst day, but Raven still had to keep his mind open, right? He bit his tongue before turning away. 

Why now of all times would someone from his past show up like this? Just now when he’d finally been able to put Schwann at rest? Something inside his chest was stirring and it wasn’t the humming blastia. He touched his shirt on instinct, but lowered his hand as she stood up shakily and offered some assistance. “Maybe ya should check into that inn. Dunno what sort of ability it would take to get that calmed down, but you seem exhausted.” 

“Yea... That’s probably the best thing to do right now...” She straightened up and turned to him again as he stood up as well, giving him that strange look from earlier, when she’d arrived in Brave Vesperia headquarters. “I have... something to ask, actually.” 

“Haha, ol Raven’s got a lotta info. Ask away.” 

“Do you have a... brother, perhaps? Cousin?” 

He did once, once before he died, but before that thought could completely resurface he shook his head, a bashful smile placed on his face becoming slightly forced. “Nah, nothin like that. My parents aren’t even alive.” 

“Oh...” She looked almost upset at that and Raven felt a pang of what could almost be likened to guilt. “You... You remind me of someone. Your faces are eerily similar, as are your voices... But I guess the same can’t be said for your personalities.” 

“Well, ya know what they say,” he continued flippantly, trying to dissuade her from making the connection, no matter what it took, for some reason he couldn’t even identify, hell, something that didn’t even make any sense. Was he scared? “Ya got at least one person in the world that looks the same as you.” 

“Yes... Perhaps fate is cruel.” She looked down as she said it and Raven felt confused again, left to debate her words as she walked away, legs still weak. 

“Ha, don’t I know it...” Her idea of fate certainly seemed different to his, however, but all he knew for sure was that if Schwann’s fate really wasn’t over, he could drag her down to hell. 

When Aster had left the knights, he had felt upset of course. She’d been the only person to really see him as more than just a hero, a common idol, someone to look up to and aspire to be. Even Leblanc still had that certain shine in his eyes, but Aster, a young teen at the time of her initiation, had no such filter. He scoffed at the thought. It was best that she had left, lest Alexei had found some diabolical use for her.  

Once Yuri touched base with him and swarmed him with more thoughts that he’d wanted to lock away, Raven decided it was a well-earned bedtime and retired to his room, glad that Brave Vesperia had even done that much else he’d be spending the next week or so in the inn. The amount that they cared for him was almost stupid after everything that he’d done, but if Estelle could forgive him, he supposed that they would give him a second, third, fourth chance. Even Karol still cared a lot for him, almost too much, but he couldn’t fault the kid at all.  

He almost fell into his bed, not bothering to take anything off except his haori, which smelled faintly of smoke, and his boots which he kicked to the floor without a care. 

Even after all that had happened, he still didn’t dream. 

The sun shined in his eyes the next morning like it hadn’t just welcomed a possibly worse day than the last and Raven rolled off his bed, feeling the stiffness of his muscles. “Seems like it’s already set in,” he mumbled with a sigh and set about to running a comb through his hair. He’d have to touch base with Harry again, work out job details with Karol, work on those reports with Yuri, not to mention probably a billion jobs for Altosk now that it’d have to rebuild the Union... Of course he wouldn’t be the only one helping, not with the five master guilds finally working together, but as the leader of Altosk while Harry recovered (a scary concept, he was only ever used to being second in command) he would have to take charge and get things at least started before the boy could take over again. 

The piles of theoretical jobs didn’t do much to quell his stress and Raven sat at his desk to rifle through a few of the papers. He opened his drawer for a writing utensil, but instead stumbled over that letter he’d carelessly tossed with the other contents. 

Only then did he remember that it had been Aster’s letter, attached with her resignation. Raven passed the forgotten letter back and forth in his hands. He hadn’t ever opened it, judging by the lack of wear, but he didn’t quite feel up to it now, not when he could finally remember the circumstance and person behind it. Sometimes it was best to let things lie, but on the flip side he could learn something about Aster that could help out on the job. Probably nothing important, but she’d always been difficult to read. Anything could be helpful. 

However, when he thought more on the circumstances of her resignation his lips hardened into a line and he closed his eyes with a sigh, placing the piece of paper face down on his desk. Now that he wasn’t fueled by adrenaline from tragedy, he could actually sort through the memories that Schwann still seemed to carry.

She’d been young when she resigned, only eighteen, and she’d already grown to mistrust Alexei. Only five short years later would the former Commandant  _really_ take advantage of someone that young and Raven still felt pangs of guilt at the thought. Aster had mentioned some other things that he couldn’t remember (Alexei couldn’t be the only reason, right?), but if he had to make a guess, he’d only ended up hurting her in the long run; that letter couldn't contain anything good. 

Before he could fall into another depressive spiral, Raven stood up with the papers and headed down to the main room. 

. . . 

Judith and the rest arrived right on time, right when Raven thought he was about to die from boredom. Not that he didn’t like working for Brave Vesperia, but Flynn had the tendency to ask for the strangest requests when he knew the knights couldn’t do jack about something. Fake weapons-dealing wasn’t too weird, but in the past they’d worked from mutated monsters (thanks, Rita) to spirit hunting (thanks, Estelle) to a trip in Yumanju again. As a result, Raven was rather glad when Yuri asked if Raven would be Judith’s second in the kitchen. He hadn’t seen the Krityan in a week or so anyway and it would be as good of a time as any to play catch-up. 

Perhaps he wasn’t putting on as good of a mask as normal and Judith asked him if Harry’s condition was bugging him. “You normally aren’t this quiet. I thought you felt comfortable enough to talk with your fellow guildmates,” Judith stated matter-of-factually while Raven chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. 

“Nothin gets past ya huh, Judith darlin’?” He sighed and shook his head while chopping the onions. “I’d had a... bad encounter with that fire in the past. Just brought back some bad memories.” 

“Does it have anything to do with the scars on your arm?” 

During their ‘stay’ of sorts at Yumanju, Raven and the rest had been given appropriate outfits. While he hadn’t much liked to wear the towel around his shoulders, he’d felt a bit self-conscious when Karol pointed out the burn on his left shoulder. He’d brushed it off then, stating that as a dog of the military and the guilds he’d gotten into some scrapes (hell, they ALL had scars, even Estelle and Rita), but Yuri and Judith hadn't seemed to have been convinced. Raven rubbed his shoulder numbly, eyes unfocused. “Yea. Seeing that fire again... Guess it worked at me more than I thought.” 

“It must have been a terrible situation. I’m sorry that you had to feel that way,” Judith murmured as comfortingly, yet realistically, as she could, and Raven appreciated the genuine nature. 

“Yea, well, I don’t know if it could have been avoided.” 

“There’s more than that bugging you, though,” Judith said before Raven could move on to another ingredient. “You haven’t hit on me once since I’ve gotten back and that’s a new record.” 

“Ah come on, I’m not that bad, right?” He let his shoulders sag before accepting the facts. “Ugh. Well, this attack has brought up some bad memories I’d much rather stayed hidden. Harry doesn’t need to be dragged inta any of this...” 

“Does it have something to do with him? Considering what Cas has told me, he’s doing considerably well.” 

Raven narrowed his eyes at that. He didn’t want to eliminate choices, not at such an early stage, but something was telling him the Don didn’t have much to do with the situation. The extremist groups in the past had mostly heckled the Empire, leaving the Union mostly to themselves (save maybe the Hunting Blades, but they were hated by at least one person in each guild). He didn’t know why it would change now...  

Other than Brave Vesperia’s existence. Now that it was common knowledge that they’d saved the world, that was probably working against them. “Maybe he wasn’t a target at all, but can’t let that be a motivating factor.” 

Judith seemed to be satisfied enough, or at least she knew there wasn’t much use in questioning him further, and they finished cooking with a general silence.  

When Karol finally fully assigned the roles for the next week, carrying on to the desert mission’s duration too of course, Raven felt a little less stressed, but still wrapped up mostly in his own thoughts. He couldn’t let Aster know who he was at any rate, not now that he’d finally put it behind him. From what he could remember, he’d only been dragging her down at any rate and she’d become too dependent on him. Leaving had been for the best, allowing her possible growth, but if she knew that Schwann really was alive and well (and not even Schwann anymore), that could make all that growth for nothing. 

No, it was better that the past stay in the past. 

Judith still seemed to think that having Raven wrapped up in his thoughts was a generally bad idea and for the rest of the meal she tried distracting him in various ways. Yuri eventually caught on, but thankfully the other members were left to their own devises, mostly involving Rayne teasing Karol over one thing or another. 

Even if Aster was his main concern, he was still plenty worried over Harry. The kid was young enough as a Don, he didn’t need any other responsibilities to worry over, but no doubt some people would expect an answer in the form of retaliation. Anything to get back at offenders. He’d told Harry he didn’t have much of a clue as to where to start, but the Empire had been having their own problems and were also looking into it. That was enough to satisfy him and he’d excused Raven with the mission to quell any burning hot rages.  

He didn’t much want to deal with it, though, and found himself actually looking forward to Brave Vesperia’s next big job. 

Rayne and Repede left the next day with the materials, Jun departed on his request, and Cas spent the majority of the next few days at the inn to heal potential burn scars. Judith and Karol compiled more information for Yuri while he wrote more reports and Raven found the next four days filled with message-delivering, informing, and rebuilding. He complained the first day of course (it really did make him sore!), but after seeing Harry’s dulled expression at the state of the main room, he figured it would be best to help him along in any way he could. 

It would take a long while to rebuild the Union, longer than Raven had available, but by the end of the week rolled around the base of the building had been cleaned out and reconstructed. The prison had escaped unscathed and the stone base wasn’t worse for wear, so Harry figured they’d spend their time making proper blueprints. They had time available and most guilds had offered open doors for some Union matters until everything fell into place. 

Raven luckily hadn’t lost much in the attack, mostly some smaller items (no clothes) and some papers that he’d had to copy, but everything had pretty much been prepared by the time Karol was prepared to set out. “Jun should be in the Tarqaron area by now...” 

“Hopefully he’s havin better luck there than we’ll have in that desert,” Raven sighed while he sorted through his items for the second or third time. “I guess it’s not the cold, but it’s still extreme.” 

“So you admit last time you were being energetic to spite us?” Judith questioned, placing a hand on her chest. “How cruel.” 

“Ahh, sometimes it’s good to make the youth squirm a little.” Ever since dying, Raven had noticed a pattern with the weather. Overly damp and cold conditions made him slow and generally a hindrance to those around him, but he functioned better in the heat, more than he ever had while alive as Damuron. Estelle or Rita had explained it once in a more scientific way (couldn’t remember which, but they were joined at the hip anyway), something about shivering? It was like the sun couldn’t damage him anymore. Small things like that, cuts, bruises, sunburns, they didn’t really affect him. 

Same couldn’t be said about fights, scuffles, and long-winded torture, but half was better than none, right? 

“You should go to bed early, Raven. You do badly when you don’t get enough sleep.” 

“Just how old do you think I am?” Raven let his shoulders slump, but couldn’t help admit that the boy was right. It would be a long travel and he would have to be at the top of his game, especially now that Harry had gotten more conclusive reports about the rumored stronger monsters. It hadn’t been the Giganto monsters at any rate, as far as he knew, but they did have the advantage of numbers. 

This journey wouldn’t be as easy as Mae had hoped, he figured. 

Morning rolled around and Raven was already up and around by the time Mae and Aster finally arrived at guild headquarters. The younger woman waved at him with excitement, way too much for the early morning he figured, but Aster seemed more down to earth. He sighed at that, but figured it was inevitable. It had even dragged him down, and those past events had pricked at her spirit, even months from their conclusion. 

Before he could reminisce more, Yuri slid down the banister, landing comfortably on his feet before he strolled over to his desk and sat down. “Morning, old man.” 

“You’re awfully energetic for eight in the A.M...” 

Yuri shrugged at that, but merely began organizing his papers. He seemed more stressed than Raven had originally thought. He’d seen all the reports, he had all the clearance necessary. Had Yuri not expected it, then? 

“How long do you think the journey there will take?” Mae questioned almost innocently and Raven turned around before he smiled, leaning his elbows on his knees.  

“Ah, depends on Ba’ul’s mood. He may be itchin for a joy ride.” 

Aster’s expression still remained decidedly blank and Raven wondered for a second if she was scared of heights. “We’ll be flying with your... friend?” 

“We’re not about to trek all the way across the world, darlin’,” Raven sighed before he stretched out his legs, leaning back against the couch. “Unless you want to, of course.” 

Aster and Mae both made faces at that and the younger woman stuck her tongue out. “I’m fine. It’d be better if I got the research done sooner rather than later.” 

New weapons making, then? If that was the case, Raven would have to be on guard. Gauche and Droite hadn’t exactly shown him much animosity, at least as of late, but if they were planning to really one-up him in the coliseum, he’d have to be careful. 

They boarded the Entelexeia’s ship after two more hours had passed, in which Karol had bade his farewells to Nan, Judith and Yuri shared a few words, and Aster continued to be emotionally distant from the rest of the group, though friendly, while Mae couldn’t stop herself from talking excitedly with Karol about her first experience flying. “I know you guys had help, but I just... I never expected it to be like this.” Mae leaned over the railings to gaze at the ocean below. “How much faster is it than sailing?” 

Judith tilted her head and closed her eyes, possibly conversing with Ba’ul. “I’m not sure down to the minute, but it certainly is more time efficient. Ba’ul likes having the exercise too.” 

“Hah, I’m sure he’s just happy havin you again, Judith,” Raven said with a laugh, and Judith shrugged with a small smile. 

“I don’t know how you get used to the unstable feeling,” Aster murmured from the side, leaning up against the cabin door, decidedly far away from the railings. Her arms were crossed and Raven wondered for a second if she’d ever been scared of heights. 

Other than the fact that she’d been his subordinate, basic personality traits, and her appearance, Raven could remember next to nothing of her. Vague images sometimes whispered behind his eyelids, but it was as if he was looking through a fog. Nothing definitive could break forth, and he couldn’t even guess as to why everything was so shrouded.  

Had she done something terrible? Had  _he_ done something terrible? The latter would be most likely; Schwann tended to block out the general majority of his emotions, feelings, and memories, and even now Raven was only left with sickening gut feelings. The only constant had been Alexei’s descent, the only thing he could remember other than assassination requests. 

The clothes she wore seemed just about as distant as they could be from the usual knights' garb, though the sheer black cloth that covered her midriff was a bit telling. Judith had no such tact, but he hadn’t remembered Aster as being particularly conscious either. Her flowing skirt couldn’t be anything but a hassle in battle, though he certainly wouldn’t mind the view. 

He only realized he’d been staring at her when she tilted her head and narrowed her eyes, clearly confused, and he looked away. He couldn’t let himself be suspicious, not when she was better left without knowing. Schwann hadn’t been a good person and she seemed to be faring just fine without him. No need to rock the boat. 

“It’s not too hard when it’s Ba’ul,” Judith stated quickly and Karol nodded his head, hand on his chin. “He’s good at what he does and it’s such an exhilarating feeling. It did take Rita a bit to get used to though,” she admitted before sending a jovial smile Raven’s way and he chuckled. He remembered the mage being absolutely nervous about being in the skies, Repede taking advantage of that to get some revenge. 

Aster didn’t seem to respond to that much and decided that her time would be better spent below deck. She smiled at the guild, but left the scene nonetheless. Mae sighed and leaned back, resting her elbows on the railing. “Guess she’s not a fan of heights. Can’t see why, I love this feeling of freedom.” 

“I can’t say I was too good at flying at first,” Karol admitted slowly, hand on his chin, “but now It's a lot easier. I trust Ba’ul more too.” 

“You’ve been with him for two years, right? It’d be natural.” Mae leaned back and walked over to Judith. “Tell him I appreciate it.” 

“He already knows, don’t worry,” Judith said, smiling at the younger woman. “But I’ll let him know that you’re also enjoying it immensely. He always appreciates a fellow flight enthusiast.” 

Too bad Aster couldn’t join in that club, but Raven wouldn’t force her to do something she didn’t want to do. “I’m impartial on heights. Just glad we’re in a ship instead of Ba’ul’s back. No offence, but I’d probably fall off,” Raven admitted, crossing his arms behind his head, and Judith chuckled. 

“No faith in him?” 

“No faith in me.” 

Eventually the group split to do their own things; Karol watched the bow of the ship, Mae turned to a journal of sorts, and Judith and Raven retired to the cabin, letting Aster keep one room to herself for now. The Kritya sat down on one of the boxes and crossed her legs while Raven went through inventory again. Her silence was a little discomforting, but he didn’t make any push to break it prematurely. 

“Yuri and Karol told me what happened at headquarters.” 

Ah, so she was starting with that route? Raven turned and sat down, leaning his elbows on his knees while he smiled as calmly as he could. “Yea, you missed a fun time. Had you been there, ya probably woulda just beat the flames with your spear.” 

“Yuri said you seemed a bit off. He was wondering if I would try and figure out if you were really ok.” She tilted her head slightly as he leaned back, smile dropping. He’d been through much, much worse and even if that event had caused those memories to awaken slightly, he wasn’t exactly in a bad spot. “You’ve been acting a bit strange for the past few days. You haven’t hit on anyone which is frankly amazing.” 

“Is that really how you’re judging my moods?” He sighed at that. That had mostly been a ‘Raven’ thing, but he supposed that was the persona he preferred most. “What if I’ve just moved on? Changed? Turned over a new leaf?” 

“Unlikely; whenever I visit the bars you’re always conversing with whatever woman catches your fancy that night.” She smiled and Raven understood yet again why the guild considered Judith their scariest member, and that was compared to a vigilante and a kid wielding axes the size of his body. “It’s clear that you’re still recovering from what happened in the past. So, if there’s anything I can do to help I’d like to assist.” 

“Dunno if there’s anythin you  _can_ do, Judith darlin’,” Raven sighed, leaning fully back as he crossed his legs and Judith raised an eyebrow. “The past is the past and people die. Nothing I can do now.” 

“Are you still stuck on it?” Judith said, voice quiet. “There’s still a lot about your past that we don’t know and while Yuri may be fine with it that way, Karol and I have always felt that including you is the best way to synergy. After what happened with Estelle...” Judith’s voice faded and Raven took a few moments to marvel at that; Judith was loud-spoken and her purposefully making something quieter meant that she really was worried. While he appreciated the sentiment, he really did not want to delve deeper into this than he had to. “I know Yuri still can’t trust you completely.” 

“Yea, he trusts me about as far as he can throw me,” Raven admitted slowly, “but he still believes in me, if that makes any difference. I know I can’t ever make up for all of the things I’ve done, but helping Brave Vesperia is good enough for me, for now.” 

Judith nodded once. “Beyond that, he filled me in on the groups. Is there anything beyond the Yurzorea missions that you can tell us? Anything specific?” 

He hadn’t told Yuri much beyond the failures, Raven recalled, but he figured if he was going to share specifics, Judith would be his first choice. “I don’t remember much of the later missions, can’t figure out why for the life of me,” he sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, face blank, “but I do remember that it was one group that tailed us...” He locked gazes with her and she flinched back at the grey undertones. “A group composed almost entirely of Krityans.” 

“You mean...” Judith narrowed her eyes, anger prickling in the air. Raven nodded once. 

“I assume they were angry about Alexei’s conquest to gather apatheia and wanted to stop me before I could make everything worse. ‘Course, they didn’t succeed,” he muttered, touching his left shoulder and Judith’s eyes followed the motion, “but they certainly tried. I think they were from Temza, but I couldn’t be sure.” 

“Certainly not from Myorzo at any rate,” she muttered and touched her chin. “I’d heard rumors that some Krityans had decided to take blastia-related affairs into their own hands, but I hadn’t realized you’d made contact with them. After we defeated the Adephagos, I assumed it would fade to history.” 

“Wonder why they’re comin back. There’s no blastia, no need to kill Entelexeia... Unless...” 

Judith sighed once. “Unless they don’t agree with spirit conversion. Not all Entelexeia have joined in on that and it’s also a choice, not a decision made for them. Perhaps their drive is revenge, then?” Raven shrugged at that and hoped that was farthest from the truth. 

“Bar Ragou, Barbos, and perhaps me, they were probably the vilest people I’ve ever had the misfortune of meeting. They... They tortured for fun, knowing that... Knowing that I couldn’t die. That I wouldn’t give them the information they wanted.” He gripped his wrist, looking down. He often couldn’t remember the details, hadn’t wanted to, but seeing that fire again had made him realize the past wasn’t so set in stone as it had been and things he didn’t want to encounter again seemed to want to rear their ugly heads. “I think after the failure of that last mission, Alexei became determined to fix this world and he turned away from the path he should have walked.” 

“I’m so sorry that happened to you,” Judith said with a whisper. “Krityans are meant to be a peaceful race and knowing that it was that group that hurt you makes me want to nip this problem in the bud.” She smiled, angled. “But I suppose this is already too big of a problem to remove quietly.” 

“Yea. But now that the Empire and Union are working on it together, they have nowhere to run.” 

Judith’s lips hardened into a line and Raven lamented that the conversation still wasn’t over. “Yuri also mentioned that Aster had connections to the attack. He didn’t say how specifically, maybe he didn’t know, but-” 

“Aster has nothing to do with it.” Judith blinked and leaned back and Raven slowly realized that he’d said that harsher than he intended. He inhaled and shook his head. “She has nothing to do with it. She knew what the fire was, yea, but she didn’t cause it. You can trust me.” 

“Can I?” Judith pushed, and clasped her hands together. “We don’t know who this woman is. All we know is that she appeared the day of an attack and had knowledge of the fire itself. Even I’d never had close experience with it, it was another Krityan secret left to gather dust. Her magic abilities rival those of Cas and maybe even Rita, certainly going over yours. You do realize the situation we’re in?” He sighed again and rubbed his forehead. “If there’s anything you need to tell us, I suggest you start now.” 

He couldn’t tell Judith. He couldn’t tell her now or ever, even if there was at least a fifty percent chance she’d figure it out on her own. She’d likely share it with Aster and make things even worse. The past was in the past as far as Schwann went and that’s where his rightful resting place was. “I can’t tell you. There’s not much to begin with, but I don’t feel comfortable sharing more information. Surely you can understand,” he added, almost as an afterthought, and touched his shoulder. Judith’s eyes followed the motion, but she frowned and shook her head. 

“If the information you hold is truly damning, then I’ll punish you as I will her.” 

“That information only hurts the bearer,” Raven assured her with a lopsided smile. “Please don’t bring anything up to Aster. Most of it’s confidential after all and I’d rather not... make things messy.” Judith watched unconvinced as Raven stood up and made to exit the room before she attempted to stop him. 

“Do you know her?” 

Raven stopped in his tracks, hand hovering over the handle. “No. Never met her before now.” He clicked the door open, entering the small hallway that somehow seemed more constricting than the air in the small room, and let the door close behind him, leaving Judith to her thoughts. He breathed out and leaned against the wall, pressing a hand to his temple as his expression morphed from the previously blank one to one of pain. Judith would easily be able to see through his lie, but denial was better than spilling the truth. 

He could hear Aster humming from the next room, a tune that he vaguely recognized, but couldn’t quite place. It was strangely calming, but it didn’t quash his bad mood completely. Despite the urge to talk to her again for no reason other than undisclosed catching-up, he pulled himself away from the cabin and journeyed upwards again, the touch of the wind against his skin a reminder of the tense situation he’d thrown himself into. 

Why couldn’t he remember anything about her except vague memories of training, battle, and her tense resignation? Nothing made sense; why did he have such strong feelings off of seemingly nothing? Did she do something that he wanted to block out, or did the years of Schwann’s servitude blur together everything that he’d done during that time? The latter would make sense at least, he loathed that era on the best of days.

The wind somehow calmed him down and his hair moved against the back of his neck as he leaned his arms on the railing of the ship, watching Karol and Mae discuss something more about the mission.

He’d have to focus on this for now. If there was something truly incriminating, no doubt it would rear its ugly head eventually. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maybe I put too much focus on Raven, but whatever! This is my story.  
> Of the new guild members I definitely like Rayne most since she's got the most definitive past so far (and is totally not an expy of Raine from symphonia at all...). I accidentally made her look a lot like Raine, but their personalities are pretty different, so eh. Jun is pulled from the human Jun, except he has darker hair, better weapons, and looks better, and Cas is my attempt to get more Krityans involved. Along with the Great War, I'm trying to shed light on Krityans as well, because that was left... unused.  
> Happy reading~


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I found a school textbook for like 10 bucks so I'm stoked. Not about lack of time for... anything, but saving money is good.  
> This chapter was a bit harder to write in some aspects. Rather, this fanfiction is not the easiest to write. My Fire Emblem one just came, but this one needs some forcing.

Aster hadn’t been in the sky for eleven long years and being surrounded by nothing but air, an Entelexeia, and another Krityan would prove to be a stressful experience. Residing in Myorzo with Krones hadn’t been flying per say, but since her exile she hadn’t exactly leapt at the opportunity to engage in it again. Leaning against the cabin entrance seemed the best way to avoid glancing over the skies again. While the wind against her neck felt refreshing, she couldn’t help the bile that rose to her throat at the thought of her birthplace.

If she hadn’t grown so much from her mistakes, she’d go back in time and fix them. She almost instinctively went up to touch where her antennae had been severed before noticing Raven (that was his name, right?) staring at her. It didn’t put her off necessarily, he had seemed jovial enough during conversation those times in Dahngrest, but it was still a bit confusing. From what Karol had implied this seemed t be usual behavior, but she wondered if it was a sort of cover. Though the guild had seemed battle-hardened in a way that most other guilds hadn’t, there was something about him that she couldn’t read easily, which was a bit strange.

Of course, he put her off in other ways, she reflected as she descended to the cabins below. Not only did he wield a Transform Bow, a weapon specific to the knights, but his similarities to Captain Schwann were just staggering. His face and eyes were particularly similar, though she couldn’t remember him smiling much, or the rare smiles ever reaching his eyes like what happened with Raven. Their personalities were also on separate ends of the spectrum, which had probably thrown her off at first, but once he’d sought her out for questions after the attack, she’d recognized his voice as well.

The similarities were scary, but they weren’t an exact likeness, age difference and time aside. Anyway, Schwann had died two years ago. No matter how much she wished otherwise, she’d never see him again. She’d left the knights with regret and shame, and she’d never be able to take that back.

But, once again, she couldn’t change the past. She touched her chest and grimaced before she steeled herself and began practicing her song again. She’d need to refine it for Mantaic at least, hopefully there’d be an occasion to use it. It took her mind off of everything at least as she struggled a second to catch her breath in the thin air, hit the right note.

A door shut outside the room and her voice wavered for a second, almost embarrassed, before she continued again. Performing in front of a crowd was worrying and nerve-wracking, of course, but a bystander was almost nothing.

After finishing the song she took a moment to marvel at the ship. She didn’t know how such a small guild would be able to afford one, but after saving the world she figured they could accomplish almost anything they’d want. However, in that same vein… Maybe they could have given it a better paint job.

The next day they arrived near Mantaic. Judith carefully guided Ba’ul toward the ground, setting the ship’s bottom lightly on the sand so that Karol and Raven could haul the landing board down, allowing the guild to descend. The heat hit Aster in waves and she sighed, rubbing her arms. She certainly preferred the cold, but at least she’d be better off than Karol, from what Yuri had implied. She almost felt bad for dragging him there, but he was the guildmaster; having him here would be valuable. Aster hitched her pack over her shoulder and watched as Judith waved at Ba’ul and he took to the skies again, eventually leaving the guild in the sunlight.

She turned as Raven sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, guess he’s gonna pick up Rayne. Hope things went well with Flynn.”

“I’m sure everything went fine,” Judith assured him with a calm voice and helped Karol adjust his belongings. “They didn’t need new buildings, just things for groundwork.”

“Where’s the commandant right now?” Aster asked, causing Judith and Raven both to look at her with wonder. She looked down for a second before glancing back. “Is he helping with city defense?”

“Aurnion never had a blastia, darlin’,” Raven stated coolly as he crossed his arms behind his head and tapped his foot, looking away. “He’s just there for more help. Thinkin’ of creatin’ more houses, I’d assume.”

“Larger buildings at any rate,” Judith agreed with a smile. “That was a hefty order he placed. He’s been interested in the wellbeing of the citizens of this world, but certainly his work should be pulling him away more than this. Yuri’s practically been bouncing off the walls without him, even with his guild duties.”

Raven smirked at that while Karol flushed and all Mae and Aster could do was look at each other with shared confusion. “Ahh, those kids can’t stay apart fer too long. Flynn’s work won’t keep ‘im away too long this time.”

“Not when we’re doing all the push work,” Karol complained as the group continued to make their way to the entrance of Mantaic.

The sun burned on Aster’s shoulders and she regretted not bringing a lighter overcoat, but before long she slugged it on and ignored the amused look Mae shot her. It figured her hair wouldn’t be long enough for protection even if it reached her shoulder blades and her shirt wasn’t exactly the best for desert hikes. She didn’t want to waste the sunscreen today, that would be for the actual desert travel.

Even through the stifling heat, she could still sense the wary energy that the rest of the guild had around her. Judith hadn’t been at the attack, so she’d likely be reasonably suspicious. Karol had been there, had seen it firsthand, and was probably more suspicious. Mae didn’t seem suspicious of her, likely because she’d known her for more than an afternoon at that point, and had even tried to lighten a few moods surrounding it.

Just as confusing as before, Raven didn’t seem to be suspicious at all. Certainly, he seemed to put on that sort of air, but her gut didn’t go off like it did when Karol and Judith sent her glances. If anything, he made her the suspicious one. He didn’t completely unnerve her, unlike other men his age, but just knowing he differed from his guildmates despite sharing similar mindsets confused her.

When she thought on it further, a few things clicked. She wasn’t a suspicious person naturally and he had years of guild and living experience the others wouldn’t, so he’d probably be able to analyse her well enough. She supposed she’d have to let the others catch on eventually, it was her word against theirs. Hopefully he and Mae would be able to calm ruffled feathers.

If they knew she was a Krityan by blood, they’d probably never be able to trust her, though, and for a second she was relieved she was unrecognizable.

It only took about half an hour of walking to head to Mantaic, punctuated by a few questions from Mae who wondered why they’d even have to hike in the first place when Ba’ul could hae just dropped them off at the front before Judith countered with a well-placed, “Ba’ul isn’t exactly well-known, and he’s not small anymore either.” That shut her up quickly enough and Aster continued on her way while Mae and Karol argued about styles of combat. As soon as they reached the inn, Aster plunked her stuff down on the ground and rubbed her shoulders, sweating through her clothes, as Karol and Judith worked out the particulars. Raven and Mae seemed engrossed in another intriguing discussion of close verses long range while he mentioned a name that seemed to prickle Mae and she yelled at him for a few seconds before she stormed off, following Karol and Judith to their rooms while Raven sighed with resignation. Aster slid closer to him, sitting down on the bench after she adjusted her items closer.

“Ah, at least you have the maturity to handle heated conversations,” Raven muttered under his breath while she leaned her chin in her hand, crossing her legs.

“Perhaps you didn’t pay her enough mind? She has feelings as well.”

“Yea, but nothin I shoulda agitated her over, it was just a bit of conversin.” He leaned back with a casual shrug and crossed his own legs, glancing over at her. “Ya interested?”

“All she was interested in was combat styles,” Aster sighed as she looked the other way, toward the entrance, and watched as another couple entered, clearly some sort of nobility, but not nearly as rich as some others. “I’m set in my ways. I’m hopeless with a sword and only proficient in magic.”

“You’re still young. Ya could try anythin ya really wanted to, I’m sure,” he continued before staring straight ahead like her. “But, don’t go gettin ideas now. From what I’d heard from Harry, there’s strong monsters around. Gotta be on guard. Use your skills.”

Aster hadn’t encountered any strong monsters, but she had noticed that her skill level, despite increasing as she got more used to the spirit’s way of channeling magic, seemed to still match the monsters on an even plain. The easy ones were still easy while the difficult ones were still difficult, if not slightly more of a nuisance than before. If there really had been an influx in monster strength, well… She could believe it. “Anything we need to watch out for? I’m not interested in putting anyone in danger.”

“Dunno. We’re as clueless as you are.” He paused and she turned, leaning back, as he tilted his head, narrowing his eyes. “Unless you’re not clueless.”

She sighed through her nose, but didn’t change her expression. “What’s this show of callousness? You haven’t been accusative toward me at all, yet now you wonder?” She mirrored his actions and tilted her own head as he winced and leaned away. “Lying doesn’t suit you. Unless it’s been a lie all this time.”

He smiled in a lopsided manner and raised his hands, looking away. “I yield. Guess interrogation doesn’t suit me. But if ya know anythin, it’d be a real lifesaver.”

She shrugged with a sigh and a hint of a frown. “I unfortunately know nothing. I’m no expert, but those observations seem to be correct. I usually travel alone. You’d assume that my strength would grow right?” He nodded once after she prompted him to answer a non-rhetorical question, and she shrugged. “The monsters are just as difficult, or easy, as before. No change, even though I’ve gotten better at magic.”

“You suppose they’re also growing stronger with the spirits, then?” He prompted, voice strangely serious, and Aster didn’t know how to answer.

“If that’s true… Then maybe it was a bad choice to get rid of all of the blastia…” After a few moments of silence from his end she turned to face him again and he rubbed the edge of his sleeve.

“Nah… It was that or die. All we can do now is fix this problem before we get into another life or death situation.”

Aster debated those words for a moment before she looked forward again. She still didn’t know the specifics to how Brave Vesperia had saved the world other than that doing so had removed all blastia from the world, likely blastia cores, and lots of spirits had awakened. After doing enough digging, she’d figured out that the Entelexeia had been the ones to turn into spirits, so from then on she had an edge over most other magic users, being still connected to them on an emotional level. She couldn’t speak with them, of course, but being Krityan meant she could still feel them.

Raven stood up and her eyes followed him as he turned back around and, despite a momentary denial from her, picked up her things with a smile. “Don’t worry, just dropping them off with everyone else.” She sighed and rested her hands on her knees as he dipped around a corner, disappearing to one of the two rooms. She closed her eyes before rubbing her temple. She’d really only understood a few people and all of them were dead. Trying to figure out what made people tick was way too complicated for her to put energy into, further than simply using general kindness to apply to everyone.

But she supposed she was more candid around him, everyone else was still focused on the mission or the Union in its entirety. She could do nothing else to counter that.

She and Mae traipsed around the town after they’d gotten settled in. Karol and Judith were more focused on planning specifics, those pertinent to guild flow, and she had no clue what Raven was up to again. Mantaic was an interesting town with a solid sense of person; the buildings blended well together and kept up the ‘desert oasis’ feeling that she’d gotten last time she visited years ago. It was still hot of course, but since she’d take periodic breaks in the shade she didn’t have to worry about wearing her overcoat again. Mae overall seemed more interested in talking with the people while Aster wanted to study some of the architecture more, but she let the younger woman drag her around to various groups, striking up various conversations.

She and Mae then learned just how much Brave Vesperia had done for the town. Aster hadn’t been in the area during that time, but the knights’ presence had apparently been stifling and corrupt. Naturally, the guild had taken care of it in a timely fashion before moving on to another problem. It almost seemed too good to be true, what they’d done in the past, and Aster wondered how much had been real and how much had been morphed by time. During her time in the knights it had been good at first, before they’d really gotten onto their feet again, but in the year before she left, she had definitely noticed a shift, especially in Commandant Alexei.

From what she heard now, Flynn was leagues better.

“Woah, that must have been hard,” Mae commented as a child explained their parents had been taken.

“Yea, everyone’s parents were taken. Well, almost…” The child rubbed their arms before squinting their eyes. “It was all Captain Cumore’s fault, but Flynn took care of him! Flynn’s the best.”

From what Aster had learned, traveling around the world, Brave Vesperia had definitely been the ones to take care of the root of the problem, even if Flynn had to do the clean-up. She’d never really known Captain Cumore, he’d been promoted soon before her departure, but she’d never really had a good impression of him.

She wondered why Alexei would make someone like him Captain in the first place. It may have been pressure from the council, but she couldn’t be sure.

“I’ve never met Flynn,” Mae continued talking to the child with a smile, “but he seems like a great person.”

Aster hadn’t met him either, not in person, but from what she heard he was a force to be reckoned with. What Alexei had failed at, bringing more commoners into the knights, generally being uncorrupt, among others, Flynn had achieved, though of course Ioder being the current Emperor also helped, they generally held the same views. The council had also been purged, at least in part, which also helped them form a better Empire for everyone.

Alexei had already been working on purging the council anyway and she didn’t want to think of that much.

Mae looked up as Raven walked over to them with purpose in his step. “Have something?”

“Just finished the layout,” he said, smiling at the child as he dashed back to his parents before turning fully to the pair. “What monsters did ya say you wanted to look at?”

“The bug cacti…” Mae paused and Aster took that time to look over the town again. “They have a long range attack and I wanted to study it.”

Aster didn’t know how that could factor much into weapons, but Leviathan’s Claw needed to make money somehow. She had more personal reasons for traveling to Temza of course, so at least Mae had something that meant something.

“Karol’d probably have info about that if you’re really interested,” he figured after a few moments and Mae nodded her head while Aster began walking back to the inn. “Where ya headed off ta?”

“It’ll be getting late soon and I’d rather have my energy for tomorrow.”

“Ah come on,” he argued with a stupid smile and Mae tilted her head, clearly confused, “it’s barely getting sundown. This’ll be the last we see of society for the next two weeks, so we may as well make the best of it, right?”

Aster blinked her eyes, a frown beginning to show, but she couldn’t sense animosity from him. “You seem to keep trying to interact with me despite the actions of the rest of your guild.”

“Ugh, I’m not technically part of Brave Vesperia,” he argued back just as quickly, rubbing the back of his neck as he broke eye contact. “I’m part of Altosk.”

“My statement still stands.”

He looked at her for a few seconds with an unreadable expression that put her off, worry blooming in her chest, before it morphed to more of a smile. “I can tell when someone has bad intentions. The others are still young, they don’t have that intuition yet. They’re drawing off of the situations around them, so I can’t blame ‘em. Just gotta work towards that trust, then you’ll be better off.”

So he was interacting with her more so that they would be less suspicious? It seemed like a strange plan, but he seemed determined enough that it would work. “How would you suggest to ‘make the best’ of the rest of this day? This is no Dahngrest.”

He gestured back with his thumb, aimed toward a building that she guessed was a bar, judging by the lights flaring out from inside and the shape of it. “You like groups, right? Lots of things to do.”

“It’s mainly for a learning experience, but I suppose you’re correct.”

Mae clapped her hands together with a silly smile on her face. “Oh nice! Learning about the culture here should prove useful.”

“I’m not so sure about the culture,” Aster began with some worry in her voice before Mae slung an arm around her shoulder.

“Oh, you can ask them whatever you want about the Great War. This was near a battle front anyway, there’s gotta be someone who knows something.”

She was probably correct, but the downcast expression Raven wore at that comment made her wonder if such an answer was really so far away.

The bar seemed lively enough, though Mae had decided to retire to the inn after only about ten minutes, saying something like she needed to confirm with the guild leader. “Sorry, but I need to check a few things. Have fun researching, though!”

Aster didn’t particularly mind being left alone with Raven, though the only other time that had happened was after the attack on the Union and even he’d been suspicious at that point. Speaking of that, she needed to ask him what tipped him off. Judith and Karol were still touchy around her, but she didn’t think she’d changed her behavior enough to convey to him she wasn’t a danger. Right now, however, he seemed more enthralled with the people around him, so Aster sighed and ordered herself something small to eat. She’d skip on the alcohol tonight at any rate.

After he finally turned back to present company, Aster leaned forward and clasped her hands together. Telling by the way he leaned back and raised an eyebrow, he hadn’t expected her to be forward like this. “You’re aware I’m researching the Great War, correct?” A nod and she continued, closing her eyes for a few brief seconds before finding his own again. “You’re… about the age of that lost generation, so I was wondering if you knew anything definitive.”

He chuckled, voice wavering, and she frowned slightly. “Is that what they’re calling it now?”

“Well, there’s the soldiers and guild members who died in the war, enough to where there’s a noticeable gap… I believe Karol’s in the upper gap of the ‘nonexistant’ generation… The children of those who died. Or rather,” she paused, leaning back to take a bite of her meal, “the hypothetical children of those dead parents.”

“Hah. Guess I’m not doin’ fair if I’m letting the slack fall to the others,” he muttered, voice clearly constricted, and Aster pursed her lips.

“I’m not saying you need to have children just to fulfill some generational gap. No matter what anyone does, that’s staying.”

“Guess the kid’s lucky enough he found a nice girl, probably didn’t have any other friends…”

Aster sighed and rubbed her forehead. “All I’m doing now is extrapolating data, but at least you aren’t outright denying anything. Is there anything you know about what happened in the war?”

He leaned forward, resting his chin on the back of his hands, and met her gaze with a stoic sort of light that chilled her blood. “Depends on what ya already know.”

“Well…” She paused and swallowed before composing herself again with a sigh. “Entelexeia didn’t like the blastia, so they tried to… attack people over it. Most of what I’m aware of is end results; the empire became crippled, the guilds not so much, but still hurt.” She shrugged and Raven waved his hand, expression blank. “Though there were battles everywhere, most of them seemed to center in Desier. Duke stopped the war and became a hero before ultimately disappearing. After that, Alexei seemed pretty intent on rebuilding the empire. Some aftermath involved expeditions to Yurzorea, but after some years both the guilds and the Empire pulled out almost completely…” Her voice faded as she noticed Raven beginning a glare and she set her shoulders, leaning back as her breath caught in her throat. “What…?”

He dropped whatever pretenses he’d held and continued with a low, “How do you know of the expeditions to Yurzorea?”

More like how did he know? The previously classified missions had been, well, classified, but had recently been cleared by Flynn to be taken down due and proper. She’d provided the brunt of the expanded information, being the only surviving participant of at least the last few missions, but she was sure that the data hadn’t been yet publicized. She frowned and met his angered mood with her own. “How do you know? You aren’t a citizen of the Empire. While it’s not hidden information, it should not have spread as far to the Guilds.” She sighed and rubbed her temples, almost letting out a groan. “I’ve noticed you’re the sort of person who can lie easily, hide things from others. But maybe, this time around, you should tell the truth.”

The atmosphere chilled again and Raven continued wearing that cold look as he moved his hands to cover his mouth. She had no clue what he could be debating. Had he somehow visited the Empire since she’d given the information, gotten Flynn to spill (the Commandant was friends with Yuri at least, not unbelievable), and then just… Not shared it with anyone? Beyond that, if he knew of the expeditions, then… He’d know that she was an integral part of them. Her anonymity was effectively ruined.

Of course, that was only if her specific theory was proven correct. There were too many variables to this to be tied down properly, and she doubted he would provide many more specifics if his current way of doing things was of any judge. Talking about nothing… He sure did that a lot.

“It’s something I’d rather not speak of,” he continued slowly, voice still too quiet for her liking, and his expression didn’t change in the slightest. “As to how I’ve gotten this information… It’s nothing so diabolical. But you seem to know more than I, so I believe this conversation won’t bring forth anything new and interesting for either of us.” He smiled, eyes closed, and Aster shuddered at the sight.

Of anyone in the guild to peg as terrifying, Raven would have been her last choice, bar Karol, but he seemed to give even Alexei a run for his money. “Of course… I apologize…”

“No need,” Raven waved his hand, avoiding her line of sight again as he ordered food for himself when the waitress came over to deliver Aster’s. “Ya’ve gotta understand, the war wasn’t pretty for anyone. Tough feelings.”

Why was he suddenly slurring his words again? What a weird verbal tic. “Yes. My parents died in a battle, so I understand well.” She wouldn’t mention how her parents’ death eventually lead to her excommunication, he didn’t need to know that. “While never directly involved in the war itself, I did experience its aftereffects.”

“In order ta know about the Yurzorea expeditions, ya gotta be from the empire… But more than that, ya gotta have been, or be right now, a knight.” He crossed his arms together and leaned back, expression fading to one more of light amusement rather than stone-cold anger, though she still couldn’t breathe easy and grimaced at the mention of her profession. “Ya said somethin about bein affiliated with the empire, but how ya hold yourself, deal business… You _are_ a knight, aren’t you?”

She gulped, her throat suddenly dry, and she averted her gaze, clasping her hands together again.

He continued with an even breath, “Your magic skill is altogether way too high for a commoner. Karol may not have questioned it and Judith hadn’t been there. Mae probably believes you’ve been guild hopping for a while. You’ve mentioned you’ve been traveling alone… No sane person would do that unless they’ve gotten trained. The knights would do that easily,” he finished, nodding his head toward her spent blastia. “I assume that’s where you got that. And your bow.”

She had indeed gotten those during her time as a knight, mostly because her commanding officer had noticed her penchant for magic and requested she receive a blastia and proper training, and she’d even taken them with her upon resigning. “Yes. You’re correct. But I’m no longer a knight. Not retired.” She sighed and rubbed her forehead, pushing the undesirable memories back. “I resigned due to… higher influence.” He tilted his head at that, but she shook her head and waved her hand. “It’s in the past and I don’t have a desire to go back now. It may be selfish but...” She sighed, but smiled despite it and Raven continued staring at her, despite the waitress delivering his own meal. “Everyone I appreciated is dead. There’s no reason for me to return.” Her smile continued and she could tell that Raven was slightly uncomfortable. “No one else could possibly understand me. It sounds selfish, but I’ve made my peace with it. Now, I merely push forward on my new path, hoping the knowledge from my past can also help others.”

After a few more tense moments he sighed and grabbed a piece of meat from his plate. “You’re way too kind for your own good. You’re the sort of person to sacrifice themselves for others, aren’t you?” She tilted her head, a slight frown settling itself upon her features, and he narrowed his eyes. “That won’t fly here. We ride or die together. That’s what Brave Vesperia’s all about.”

“That’s quite an assumption, considering you haven’t seen me in battle yet,” Aster responded with an even tone, but she shrugged. “However, if someone’s going to be hurt, I’d rather it be me.”

“Ya have that death wish because your friends are dead?” Despite the casual nature of the sentence, his voice still seemed strangely low and she felt a tingle run up her spine. She wasn’t ever the sort of person to give up on life due to mere loneliness, she’d survived much worse than that, but she couldn’t deny the emptiness would wear at her heart. Better to save a child that had a future, right?

“Perhaps it’s because they are dead that I understand no one else would want to feel that pain,” she murmured and he sighed at her response. “I already have my legacy that will continue on. It’s just not a concern.”

He didn’t seem to have an apt answer to that question, so they began to eat their meals in general peace, the quiet voices of the bar surrounding them.

What could she make of this? Instead of an interrogation centered around the Great War, it ended up being a debate of her own morality and past. Had he meant to turn it around on her? What sort of information did he not want her to know? At this point she couldn’t ask again, but at least she’d have other opportunities later.

Hopefully it wouldn’t go as badly then.

The next day they set off properly to the desert, Mae and Karol leading with some enthusiasm while Judith and Raven lagged behind, talking about one thing or another. Aster vaguely wondered if it was something about her (more likely than not, she figured, perhaps her status as a former soldier), but before she could debate on it further Mae had grabbed her arm and pulled her forward with a smile. “Look! Look at the way the sun reflects off of the sand. It looks like shimmery water.”

She’d been in a desert before and had known what mirages looked like, but the Desier Desert was certainly something else. The light bended in a much wider area than she’d been used to and she could see the reflections of the cacti, blocking out the sand that should have reached her eyes. After a few moments of quiet walking, she dipped her head. “Yea, it doesn’t quite look like real water. Something magical maybe.”

“The only thing magical about this desert is how it magically seems to never end,” Karol deadpanned, but at least he didn’t seem to be too tired yet. “How far would you like to go? Do you want to reach the end?”

Mae shook her head with a frown. “No way! Once I find that monster, collect some things, do a bit of studying then I’ll head back to Mantaic. You guys will probably want to spend at least one night in the inn too, huh.”

“If this takes more than one day, which at this rate it may,” Aster sighed while shielding her eyes from the sun as she looked up, “then yes, a stay at the inn would be most welcome.”

“The monsters are about half a day’s work in anyway, they don’t like being near the town,” Karol murmured and Mae looked on with confusion.

“There’s no more blastia. Why wouldn’t they?”

“Since Rita cracked some spirit formulae, she’s been able to have them make some sort of magical aura that keeps them away from certain places,” Karol continued with a wave of his hand and a casual look backward. “We can’t use it to get rid of monsters, but we can keep people safer than if we didn’t have anything at all. Soldiers are still useful, though, since stronger monsters just don’t care.”

“Strong monsters…?” Aster had definitely noticed the rise of stronger monsters and there would be a chance that magic wouldn’t hold them out forever. “Do you think we’ll run into any of them in the desert?”

“Nah, we already took care of the giganto monster that lived here,” Karol continued as he looked across the dusty horizon. “The monsters around here are also too weak, even if they got a bit stronger.”

“Not lacking in the modesty department I see,” Aster commented with a sigh and Karol made an indignant face while Mae laughed.

“Who needs modesty when you can have…” Raven paused for effect while Judith and Aster both shot him blank looks before he gestured at himself. “Amazing.”

“Because you’re the one doing all the heavy lifting,” Karol deadpanned yet again while the older man shot him a look and Judith patted Karol on the back.

“Oh, we appreciate you so much, Karol,” she cooed at him and Mae and Aster gave each other suspicious glances. Karol chuckled and ruffled his hair, but the group eventually continued on while Raven and Karol continued cracking the same sort of jokes, eventually boring Aster, but not enough to annoy her.

The sun eventually started to dip behind the mountains and Mae paused, placing her hands on her hips as she looked around the desert. “Weird. I thought we would have seen one by now.”

“I thought we would have seen _something_ by now,” Karol added with a hint of worry while Judith shrugged.

“Maybe we scared them off.”

“Oh no, are we too strong?”

“I doubt that’s it,” Aster answered Karol quickly while kneeling down to feel the ground. She paused, running through why they wouldn’t have run into any monsters before the sensation came to her. “Now that I’m paying attention, I can sense some spirit magic. There’s probably a spirit here who felt threatened and caused the monsters to flee. Guess they weren’t strong enough to resist it.”

“Why would spirit magic be strong here?” Raven wondered rather quietly as Aster stood up again and turned toward the sun.

“I don’t know, but I’d say someone with spirit knowledge has been here in the past few weeks. Perhaps a lone traveler?” She sighed and touched her bow. “I can’t see why else why someone would use such strong magic other than protection…”

“There’s no other known purpose for it?” Judith asked, voice as calm as ever, but her expression seemed cold as Aster turned to her.

“I don’t know. My specialty is in history and offensive magic. Support, well… I just have the one arte.”

At that mention Raven turned around and tapped his foot while Karol rubbed his chin. “Well, if it’s that old then the person’s gotta be long gone. The magic can’t be as strong either, so we should take advantage of this and get closer to Temza. It’ll be harder for Mae and Judith to go back, but it will save time for the other group.”

“Though because of this we don’t know if the monsters here really have gotten stronger or not,” Aster concluded with a frown and Judith reluctantly agreed. “We’ll have to be even more careful.”

A few more hours and the light vanished from the ground, casting the desert in afterglow. They still hadn’t seen any monsters and Aster wondered just how far the magic continued. She’d never heard of monsters avoiding people even if their strength was outnumbered. They had confidence in numbers and sometimes not even then. Someone must have been traveling to Temza, or had at least wanted to tear the desert inside out. But why? What lie in the sand of Desier? Far as she knew there was nothing. No direct battles had happened from what she’d learned and the land seemed unscarred.

But, then, someone had been interested in the past. Why else would those renegades suddenly come back when their original interest had been in apatheia and the protection of the Entelexeia? She knew the Great War had started because of blastia and both sides had suffered immense losses, but… It was even. The war had ended in what was practically a stalemate and both sides had to pick up the pieces.

Pieces that the Krityan had refused to partake in. In the months following the war, she’d been cooped up in Myorzo, stewing with anger that the same people who had known about the Entelexeia and dangers of blastia had been willing to let the war continue on, leave their brethren on the surface to die, leave her parents to die and Temza to be destroyed. She still couldn’t understand why they’d just leave everything to fall together without even making an effort to make it better, why they’d even let it get that bad in the first place. The Krityan people may be wise and smart, but Aster couldn’t bear their sense of isolationism, especially when they were at fault.

At any rate, all they could do at that point was settle down for the night and hope that nothing bad would happen, though she confirmed for Karol that the spirit magic was still lingering and there would likely be no monsters, especially if they used the tents and the barrier spell. “It’s practically a double deal and it would have to be an amazing monster to even think about attacking us.”

“I’m still going to have us stand watches,” he sighed and rubbed his eyes. “Raven, I’ll have you take the earliest shift and I’ll take the first watch. What would you guys like?”

“Last watch?” Raven groaned and looked up at the sky already filling with stars. “I’ll take first shift boss, you already look ready to pass out. ‘Sides, I’m not tired at all.”

“I suppose the desert is doing its wonders again?” Karol sighed, but didn’t seem to want to argue too much. “What about you, Judith?”

“Oh, I’ll do whatever, I’m not picky.”

Aster figured she’d do whatever as well. She could sleep in a pinch due to her military training and felt more comfortable letting the others decide what they wanted to do.

“Ok, then… Mae, you go after Aster and Judith will go after that.” He scratched out some numbers in the dirt with a studious expression. “We should each get… A little more than two hours, so Raven will wake Aster at about… Ten-ish. The moon’s up, so we can judge time by that.”

“…We can?”

Aster almost laughed at Mae’s incredulous tone, but she didn’t want to make the younger girl feel incompetent, so she merely explained the science behind it, watching as her face morphed from disbelief to a better understanding. “Oh, that’s cool. I always thought it was different from the sun.”

“Depends on the season,” Raven continued, relaxed as ever as Judith started the fire, “but lucky us it’s reliable. We just gotta make educated guesses and all should be well.”

“We should start making dinner then,” Aster continued and rummaged through her pack. “I have some base equipment that should help.” She tossed a small pan and a ladle to Karol, who caught them with dexterity. “Don’t have spices though, I’m not picky enough.”

“Well, we should split it up to make it faster,” he continued, separating the steps out so that everyone had a bit. “Soup will take too long, so we’ll just be doing rice and a main dish…”

“I can do the rice then,” Aster dipped her head. “I’ve made it before.”

“A-ah,” Raven stuttered, reaching his hand forward as Aster grabbed the pot, but retracted it just as fast. “You don’t need to busy yourself, you and Mae can sit back and watch… Maybe patrol the perimeter.”

“Aw, but I like to cook,” Mae pouted, sighing, but Karol shrugged.

“Karol is the best at cooking the rice just right,” Judith said and Aster shrugged.

“If you think I’d be more useful patrolling, then I don’t mind.”

“I think it would be best if we all cooked so that we could get it over with quickly.” Karol frowned at Raven, who looked away quickly. “Besides, we don’t need to patrol when we can still see around us. The light isn’t gone yet.”

“Fine…”

She and Karol worked on the rice. He had interesting ideas for spices while she busied herself with the actual cooking portion. Judith and Mae worked on the main course while Raven assisted where he figured he was needed most, mostly with portion works. Before she passed the rice over to Karol, he sent a confused look at the pot before him. “This looks…. Uh…”

“It looks like how I’ve always made it,” Aster filled in before he grabbed the pot and she crossed her arms. “Is there something wrong?”

“It’s way too soggy… And somehow it still doesn’t look all the way done…” He narrowed his eyes and looked to the side. “It’s like Flynn’s spirit is haunting us…”

Raven leaned over to take a look at the pot, whistled, and promptly leaned back. “Bet he’s still mad about losing the competition.”

“What would Commandant Flynn be haunting us for?” Aster scoffed as she turned around to clean the area around her.

“Not us, your cooking,” Karol sighed, but seemed resigned as he shifted his spices around, seemingly determined on getting her abomination presentable.

Aster knew she couldn’t cook well, most people told her that when presented with it, but she didn’t like feeling useless. Besides, it wasn’t terrible. Usually it ended up burnt, so she prided herself on keeping it even this time around. Most of the time, she preferred burnt food over underdone, but she knew that her tastes certainly wouldn’t fit with everyone’s. Though, even then… It seemed unique still.

Judith smiled as she added the stewed pork with the rice, but Aster could tell she was put off by the presentation and Mae was even less concealed. Raven kept an even face while Karol sighed, not even trying to pretend he thought it was good. “Oh well, I’ve had worse.”

“Flynn’s cooking was certainly unique, wasn’t it?” Judith said with the smile still on her face while Mae shuddered, wondering just how bad the Commandant’s cooking could be.

“Kid just has no taste,” Raven lamented while he waved his fork in the air, “but he got all the skill in the world.”

“Maybe my cooking isn’t quite up to par,” Aster started with slight hesitation, “but it’s gotten me to live so far. It’s not that bad.”

“Well, Yuri had to cook or else Flynn would kill them both, so I guess she is better,” Karol sighed as he took a sad bite of the rice. “But it seems she can’t even follow a recipe…” Aster couldn’t disagree with that, but Mae did her best to lighten the mood the rest of the meal and by the time Karol rolled into his tent, Aster felt more welcomed than before.

Perhaps the travel and her knowledge had helped them become more confident in her. Or maybe that period of suspicion had finally worn off. Either way, things were looking up.

She didn’t quite feel tired yet, even when Mae entered the shared tent, and figured she’d stargaze until her eyes began to hurt from lack of sleep, but she didn’t want to get too into it since she’d be on the second watch. The flickers of the low fire warmed her skin in the cooling desert and she rubbed her skin absentmindedly.

The constant light of Brave Vesperia had faded two years ago and from what she’d heard it had been a blastia. It explained the bright light, but since it was a constant in the sky, she’d gotten lost a few times after it disappeared. It figured that even something like that could also vanish, a reminder that nothing was ever constant.

Sometimes the world, so full of people, felt so lonely.

“Recognize any of the constellations here?” Raven prompted as he picked at the fire and Aster almost jumped, so lost in her own thoughts she had blocked out everything else. He smiled at her, probably aware he’d startled her, and she smoothed her hair out.

“Not particularly, not by name. I’ve visited the area, but never really…” Her parents weren’t astronomers and she hadn’t been that into it either, mostly interested in Brave Vesperia since it was a constant and her parents also used it for travel. She looked over as he shifted the fire one last time. “Do you?”

He leaned back, looking up at the stars, and pointed out a few of them, though Aster could only catch two. “Just somethin you learn about when readin, nothing special. But it’s the stories behind ‘em that are the real gem.”

“What sorts of stories?” Aster leaned her arms on her legs and better turned her attention toward him. “Mythology?”

“Hm, more so just tall tales, small things with morals at the end.” He drew one of the patterns into the ground and Aster looked over it. “This one is a lot like the Halure tree. Marriage ending in despair.”

“Why would a star pattern have such a depressing story?” Aster ran her finger over the edges of the flower, the sharpened edges jarring compared to the flowers that existed on Terca Lumereis.

Raven shrugged and looked away after erasing the pattern. “Warnin people not to jump into commitment maybe? Lack of foresight can get the best of us and awareness is the best prevention.”

She didn’t know how well such a story would work on children, but whatever worked in the past she supposed. “I’d always just look at how pretty the stars were. If I wanted a story, I’d just listen to my parents talk about their latest travel.”

“Adventurers, then?” He prompted and set the stick aside. Aster shrugged and looked forward, gazing past the mountains in the distance.

“Of a sort. They were architects and would travel the world to study blastia. They didn’t care much about the formulas, rather the history behind the designs, where they were created, things like that.” She turned back with a small smile, though Raven’s face was blank. “It’s why I’m studying the Great War. Not so much out of respect to them, but because I was inspired by them.”

“Did any of their information prove useful in your research?”

“No, they died during the Great War, so nothing would connect properly.”

Raven shrugged and rubbed his shoulder as he turned away. “The Great War had to do a lot with blastia. I’d say there’s a connection.”

She didn’t think so at any rate. If the Great War had been fueled mainly by blastia, it would definitely have something to do with aer and architecture and aer didn’t fit smoothly. “They were piecing together what blastia was created at what time based on shape and material, so I don’t think I’d be able to figure anything out. I’m no formula expert.”

“Hmm, maybe I should swing this idea by Rita, then…”

Silence rose around the camp again and Aster wondered if the others had fallen asleep already. She eventually turned away from the sight of the stars and looked toward Raven again. “I suppose only one Brave Vesperia could exist at one time, but I’m glad it was your guild that won out.”

“Hah, what’s this all a sudden?” His voice seemed forced and she caught a glimpse of a strained expression.

Aster shrugged, closing her eyes. “You guys made the choice of how to save the world. I guess you carry that name now to never forget what’s happened, what we sacrificed the past for. Survival of the fittest maybe, but I think losing blastia was the ultimate best option.”

“Some people think otherwise.”

Aster smiled, a dissuading gesture, and grabbed the stick, tracing some patterns into the ground. “Like how this constellation no longer works without Brave Vesperia, the world too needs to change.” She made to hand the stick back to Raven, but hadn’t realized he was already making a move and ended up scratching his arm. “Oh, sorry! I didn’t see you…” Her voice faded as she noticed the scratch fade from light to dark and she grabbed his hand for a closer look. “Hm? Didn’t you wear sunscreen?”

“Ah, I did, but…”

She ignored his guilty look along whatever else he said and narrowed her eyes. If she’d gotten scratched on a burn she would have definitely gotten annoyed at whoever had done it, but he hadn’t even flinched. She pressed on it once, watching the color fade to normal afterwards. “Doesn’t it hurt? It’s pretty bad.”

“Uh… Not really?”

She frowned at him, but eventually released his hand, and it dropped to his side. “Be careful next time. That could be a hindrance to us if it gets worse. I’m surprised it doesn’t hurt you at all.”

“Ahh, burns hurt more if you have pale skin. Just savin the sunscreen.”

“Clearly it’s not worth it if you’ve already gotten burned,” Aster replied back in kind, but Raven waved his hand and dismissed her.

“I won’t be a burden, don’t worry. You should get to bed. I’ll wake you for your shift.”

She sighed, but resigned herself to that fate and eventually turned away from the fire.

“That constellation you drew…” She turned at the sound of his voice again and looked down at her drawing. His eyes seemed vacant again and she cleared her throat.

“Yes?”

He paused for a few seconds before turning back to the fire. “It was about sacrifice. A soldier protecting a town.”

“Yes… He died valiantly, but left his family behind.”

He smiled, crooked and loveless, and Aster gulped. “Wish that coulda been me. Woulda avoided this whole mess.”

She didn’t know if she was supposed to catch that, but he hadn’t mumbled his words, so she rubbed her arm and looked at the dirt. “I think your guild would prefer you being alive to others. That should make you comfortable.”

“Yea, I suppose it does.”

She shot him one last look as he turned away, musing for a moment that he really did remind her of Schwann, before she lifted the flap to her tent and quietly retired.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So.... do you... like my oc? It's been years since I've written a fic with OC's and I feel this time around they're more believable. I've taken liberties with lots of things from Vesperia, but that's rather purposeful. Krityan culture hasn't been expanded on at all, so I pushed the edges. Same with the guilds, the Empire... This fic has a lot of creative licences. But I hope it pays off in the end.  
> Happy reading~!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Compared to Karol, Judith was a breeze to write, it's almost stupid.

Judith hadn’t figured out right away that Aster had been the traitor; she’d been only nine when Myorzo had been attacked and hadn’t even been in the city at the time. Ba’ul had wanted to go out on another flight and she hadn’t felt like remaining in Myorzo much longer.

Maybe it had been that attack that finally told her that she couldn’t live in the city anymore. The elder hadn’t reacted well to the event, but she figured he was more put together than the adults that claimed a child maliciously attacking their city should be killed, even if the reasons behind such an action should be analyzed.

Only later did Judith realize it had been because of the Great War. Maybe it because she was from Temza that she agreed on some level that the Krityans could have done more, especially with knowledge and prevention, but the past was the past. She wouldn’t have killed people over it, not like Aster had.

That day she’d returned with Ba’ul to an injured city, multiple buildings on the East side destroyed and crumpled and she could hear Krones’s annoyance and pain. Only from disjointed conversation did she learn that a young Kritya had actually moved to attack the city with the claims that since they’d abandoned the surface to suffer they deserved such a punishment. She didn’t know how just that was, but the gratefulness she felt at them taking her in was definitely soured by their lack of action. Where were they when her father’s inventions were hurting others? Where were they when they could have used that knowledge to save others?

(Later she would learn that the pain had dug so much deeper into the world and that it would take generations to fully heal.)

She didn’t watch a few days later when they sentenced her to live the rest of her days on the surface, but she had basically rejected everything the Krityans had stood for. The sage hadn’t wanted to lean that way, Judith remembered, but the rest of the authority, especially those who had lost family, didn’t want to run the risk of more damage.

Back then she hadn’t really understood why everyone had been so mad, not until she saw the collapsed buildings herself and attended the funerals for the deceased. As far as the punishment had gone, she only understood that such a judgement was only reserved for the most heinous of crimes, and attacking one’s own people certainly fit under that umbrella, especially attacking the source of the city’s life.

Such a punishment entailed the clipping of both ears and antennae, removing the person of Krityan heritage, and banishing them from the holy land.

Judith figured that if they’d thought that was just, then it was. She hadn’t considered the ramifications of such a thing, but knew that she’d never attack the city or any of her brethren. Only when she was older did she figure that it was a stiff punishment for someone who was barely fourteen, if that.

Only when the group boarded the ship did Judith realize that Aster really was the Krityan who had been banished all those years ago. She shied away from the edges and sent mournful looks Ba’ul’s way when she thought she wasn’t being watched.

Judith suspected Raven had learned something about it, whether from connections to that renegade group or from other various missions he’d carried out as Schwann, but at any rate the two were connected. He didn’t seem to think she was Krityan at least, but the link was there. Judith didn’t know if she should tell anyone else, but figured that such a thing was in the past and Aster’s own trial to shoulder, so she left it be.

If she proved to be a liability, she’d protect her guild.

Though, as the sun rose after their first night in the desert, Judith’s stone-cold resolution began to waver. Aster didn’t act like a cold-blooded killer, someone who wanted death to all Krityans, someone who was willing to cut all edges to get a job done, to push her own agenda like Yuri. She seemed more like a caring person who just couldn’t interact with others.

Someone Judith had been once.

She couldn’t ignore that shared link, and as the day drew on she felt herself losing animosity toward this person she’d been trained to be wary of, to fear, to avoid. Aster was distant, of course, but she was also caring, making sure Raven was actually taking care of himself, making sure Karol wasn’t tired, making sure Mae didn’t drift too far from the group. Not unlike Estelle, but with a more mature outlook.

She seemed to be the most emotionally distant with Judith, but that was only to be expected. Judith was obviously a Kritya and Aster would shy away from that.

She’d let her.

“Oh! It’s one of those monsters!” Mae shouted around three the second day, the sun bearing down on Judith’s neck in an uncomfortable fashion, and she turned to watch the sun shimmer off of the desert floor before reflecting off of the hide of the spined monster they’d been hunting. Karol immediately shifted to a defensive position while Mae skittered forward, gripping her two blades already, and Aster sighed with a shake of her head.

“Be careful, ya don’t know if it’s got more company hidin,” Raven warned her before Mae turned around, smile on her face.

“That’d be great!”

“You need to watch out for paralysis!” Karol added, behind her, and Judith took a step back. She’d probably end up killing the poor thing before Mae could complete her analysis, so she’d just hang back while everyone else played support. Should she start formulating a meal for tonight? Aster seemed a horrid cook, so she’d have to accommodate that… Not to mention she’d have to purify the cactus water for tomorrow so that it’d actually be drinkable… And she’d have to prep her weapon just in case they ran into something on the way back.

“This monster seems stronger than what I’d expect,” Aster warned to Judith as she stepped forward, unhooking her bow from her skirt, and Judith narrowed her eyes at the beast. It seemed about normal as far as appearances went, but judging from Karol’s ranged attack it did seem to be taking less damage than what she’d expect. He also seemed to notice and stepped back.

“I want you to get your measurements done as soon as possible,” he said to Mae as she darted around a spine attack. “I don’t want to leave openings for it.”

“Don’t worry, this is mostly a collecting thing, so once I say go, just lay on it.” She ducked around a swipe in the air and scooped up some of the spines it had shot earlier, pocketing them in her bag. “Some damage now wouldn’t be too bad either.”

“Oh, now? Sounds like a fine plan,” Raven muttered as he shot some arrows into its side, sending it spiraling to the ground with a screech. It scrabbled back upright and Judith wondered why this monster had decided to travel solo. From what she remembered, most monsters in the desert grouped together, survival of the fittest. Had there been a stronger monster that had taken others out? Was it strong enough to stand on its own without worry? Either solution seemed bad and Judith turned around, trying to see if any other threats had snuck up on the group. At her prompting, Aster seemed to do the same, but like Judith came up empty.

“Are you done yet, Mae?” Karol grunted as he ducked from an attack, sliding over the sand, and she jumped up, waving her bag in the air.

“I’m good! Take it out!”

“Ah, finally!”

Judith would have mirrored Raven’s words if she’d had enough time to say anything, but was dying from merely holding back. She rushed forward and kicked the monster further into the air after Raven stunned it and Karol sent it flying. She swiped at its cactus a few more times before pounding it into the ground again, stepping away so that Karol could continue the assault. Mae swiped at its legs a few times before dashing around it, confusing it with her speed, and Raven and Aster finished it off with a few well-placed spells.

“Seems like five to one is utterly in our favor,” Aster quipped as she clipped her bow back to her skirt and dusted off her hands. “It didn’t even have time to counterattack.”

“Wonder why it was alone?” Raven looked over his shoulder at Judith and she narrowed her eyes, looking down toward the ground as the monster’s body faded away to aer.

“Either it was strong enough to survive on its own, or-“

Karol’s screech interrupted her and gave her enough time to jump back from a wild scythe swipe. She dashed in the air and landed behind Raven, causing him to step back into her with a surprised yell as the Giganto Monster rose to full view. Aster dashed back with a curse, snapping her bow back to action, and Karol gripped his bag. “Where did it come from!?”

“I don’t know, I couldn’t even sense it!” Judith ducked from a spore attack, half using Raven as a shield, before she leapt up, sending herself behind it with a few well-placed dashes. “I thought we had already taken care of this one!”

“W-we did!” Karol’s indignant voice didn’t help ease her concerns and Mae was already turning slightly pale, stepping back a few steps as she registered the size of this monster. “I don’t know why it’s back.”

“Guess there’s always more than one monster,” Raven spit out before he sped forward to block an attack from hitting Aster as she retreated further. “Knock it down Karol, I don’t remember this thing havin any weaknesses!”

“Wouldn’t fire or water be a good guess?” Aster forced out as she stumbled from a tail sweep that sent Raven crashing to the side. “It’s a big bug that lives in the desert.”

“Tried that already,” Judith said as she leapt into the air, sending a moonbeam to knock the monster down for Karol to start on, and landed daintily on the ground. “It wasn’t too much of a problem for us with blastia, but now we only have half of the artes we used to.” Judith focused mainly on her own skills anyway, so losing artes hadn’t hurt her as much as the others, but it had taken a while to re-learn what Yuri had dubbed the ‘essentials’, moonbeam being one of them, along with luna talon. Karol, on the other hand, had used a lot of his artes during battle, so now he had to use one over and over for decent results. Reaper’s knock had been easy to relearn, but the others Yuri and Raven had chosen proved to be difficult and, even know, he didn’t have full control over them.

A spike of ice shot up from the ground, followed by a downpour of water. Judith recognized both Inverno and Splash and felt relieved that at least those two could synergize their spells while she and Karol kept the monster down. As she tried to stand it up again to continue a chain, it threw her off its back and she stumbled against the ground before leaping up and dashing in the air again. Arrows sunk into the ground to ward the monster away from attacking her again and Karol knocked it down as Judith landed behind its wings. Mae sped forward and delivered a few blows that didn’t seem to do much damage, but Judith noticed that it had inflicted some status ailments on it.

That fighting style of hers seemed altogether too similar to a certain advisory of theirs, one who had died almost two years ago. She could tell that Raven and Karol had noticed too, but it didn’t put her off like the younger boy. She’d have to ask Mae later.

The poison hurt the Medusa Butterfly at least, but it didn’t seem to affect its attacks at all Judith noted as she ducked under another swipe, sending dust into the air. Aster shot another spell at it, darkness this time, while Raven swooped in for close combat after Karol was sent sliding to the side, a scratch in his side. Mae ducked around him and helped him up again before dashing away from another attack.

Judith didn’t remember this enemy being quiet so fast, not like Brucis. Had the warnings about stronger monsters applied even to something like this? It seemed likely. They’d have to report this to the Union upon their return. She chained a few more attacks before running through her available artes, the easy ones that Yuri said she should probably relearn first. It didn’t seem to even flinch and before she could dash away the tail knocked her out of the air and sent her sliding against the sand. She winced as she placed a hand to her side, pulling away red.

If both she and Karol were injured, this would get a whole lot more messy.

Unfortunately, with the loss of blastia, Raven’s healing arte had also lost a fair amount of potency that he still had yet to learn back in full, so after he finished healing Karol with a few shots, he ran over to Judith while Mae guarded them. Ice shattered around them again as Aster tried to keep the monster from gaiing more ground, but it seemed rather hopeless.

“Hah, usually I don’t hafta heal you much, Judith darlin’, but this is quite the injury.” He knelt down and moved his hand over her side and she felt the healing magic spread through her skin.

He must have figured that such an injury would have more effective healing from direct contact. He must have learned some skills from Estelle. Judith felt her mind clear as the pain slowly faded away and the bleeding stopped completely. She stood up, leaning rather heavily on her spear even though Raven assisted her. “We have to kill this thing before it can get us.”

“Yea, but maybe with some more care?” She looked at Raven as he shrugged and shot her a lopsided smile before retreating back again to coordinate more spells with Aster and Mae and Karol pushed back the monster with more attacks.

The strategy continued for a while and Judith couldn’t even make a guess as to how much damage she was dealing. It seemed insignificant and even Karol didn’t seem to be making any decent dents in its armor, but when its back leg buckled under a moonbeam, Judith felt a wave of relief flood her arms. As she leapt back from the air, however, she couldn’t avoid the surprise tail slash again, even though she’d dashed back a few paces, and the wound in her side protested. Before she could get hit again, though, Aster leapt in front of the attack, bow collapsed to serve as a sort of shield, and it was her instead of Judith that was sent crashing to the ground with a cry.

Judith stumbled from her short landing, but managed to block the second attack with her spear as Mae ran to check up on Aster. Raven shot a few more spells before finishing with some long-range attacks, so while the monster was distracted Judith navigated herself behind it again as Karol pounded it down with another arte.

“Why isn’t this thing dead yet?” Karol yelled to Raven who replied back with similar disbelief. “I don’t remember it being this hard!”

“Guess the thing about stronger monsters really was true,” he forced through gritted teeth as he sent more arrows the monster’s way before Judith attacked again with fury.

Immense relief flooded through Judith’s system while Karol was finally able to land the finishing blow, minutes later, and the body faded again to aer. Mae and Karol sank to their knees, breathing heavily, while Aster, Judith, and Raven merely sent each other looks mixed with confusion and worry. “If we run into another monster like this, I don’t know if we can handle it a second time,” Aster forced out through heavy breaths, and Judith shrugged.

“There was another Giganto Monster at Temza that we had to deal with twice,” Raven breathed, rubbing his forehead, and Judith frowned at the memory. “I wouldn’t be surprised it if turned up a third time.”

“Maybe I should go with you then,” Mae said as she stood up, rubbing the stress from her arms, but Karol shook his head.

“We… We cant put you in danger… for a mission that isn’t your own.” He leaned up and rested heavily on the hilt of his weapon, the blade sinking deeper into the sand. “It’s… safer that you go to Mantaic…”

“If we all head back to Mantaic it’d put us behind,” Aster sighed and Judith solemnly nodded her head. “We should take advantage of the rest of the spirit trail. If we go back to the beaten path we’ll arrive at Temza without much more trouble…”

“Guess the person who used that knew what was up,” Raven sighed.

“I wonder what person would have that sort of understanding and ability to utilize it,” Judith wondered aloud, causing Raven to turn his attention toward her. “It would have to be someone who knows well of spirits.”

“At any rate,” he continued, “we need ta get ourselves put back together. You and Mae can head back after we get all prepared. That looked like a bad hit back there.”

“If Aster hadn’t guarded for me, it would have been much worse,” she assured him as she turned to the person in question and gave her a grateful smile. “So for that I must thank you.”

“It was nothing,” Aster continued rather quietly. “You were in a vulnerable position and you’re a clear asset to the guild and this team. If we’d lost you, we would have certainly lost the battle.”

“Well, Judith certainly’s the best fighter we got,” Raven continued smoothly while smirking at the both of them, “but all parts make up the whole.”

After a tired agreement from Karol, the group settled down closer to the spirit path, though they still had to avoid some other monsters. While they could take out some, Judith still couldn’t feel her side as well as normal, so Raven opted for rather diverted paths. Karol drew out a circle again and scattered the monster repellant that they had used the night prior, just in case. Judith settled down, wary of her side, while Karol and Mae plunked down, muscles heavy from fatigue. She couldn’t necessarily blame them; while Raven and Aster had held mostly supportive positions, those two had helped her distract the brunt of the monster’s attacks. Judith felt a bit of pride at Karol’s bravery, but she mostly felt bad that they had to encounter such a difficult monster when none of them were at their prime.

She could tell that even Aster’s spells were mediocre at best and Raven’s weren’t up to par yet.

Raven settled down next to her and settled into his usual butterfly position, fingers daintily brushing against the dirt. “So, Giganto Monsters aren’t one off, and they seem to be extremely strong… The person using the trail probably knew about them. So, why haven’t we heard more from the Hunting Blades?”

“There’s only nine Giganto Monsters, if I remember correctly…” Judith didn’t bother to count, not when Karol was in charge of the monster book. There had been too many monsters they’d fought anyway. Though they hadn’t been similar, she couldn’t remember much other than the flow of battle and that amazing adrenaline rush. “If they all really have come back, we have more problems than a renegade group, fake weapons dealing, and spirit magic.”

“Perhaps they tie into each other,” Aster suggested as she rubbed her chin and Raven turned his attention toward her. She shrugged and rest her hand to the side. “The renegade group likely has connections to spirit magic and what better way to fund an underground operation than through shady trades?”

“Yuri believed Leviathan’s Claw was involved with the weapons,” Judith sighed, rubbing her eyes, “and we know who the renegade group is. If they really are related, the Empire will be in danger. The knights are already spread thin and the guilds are still recovering.”

“Is their goal to spread chaos then?” Raven prompted, looking back to Judith before performing another round of healing on her side. “I don’t know how they’d gain from that.”

“I think they were out to protect Entelexeia, so now perhaps they want to protect the spirits from magic?”

“What if it’s not nearly so thought out as that? What if it’s something… more human? More emotional?” Judith raised an eyebrow at Aster’s suggestion. Aster definitely was a Kritya, so it was likely she knew more about that group than anyone else did. She hadn’t quite been old enough to have been involved with them directly, though, and at this point it would be for the better that she share any of that relevant information.

“What makes you say that?” Judith didn’t know if she could weasel out more information from Aster at this point, but if it meant she would be protected as well, surely she’d share something.

She tilted her head at that, blue hair falling over her neck, and narrowed her eyes toward the middle of their half circle. “I… I had an interaction with them once…” Judith felt Raven freeze next to her and she wondered why he’d react in such a way. “They weren’t as put together as such a choreographed attack would make you think. Maybe they’ve changed since then, but…” She sighed and rubbed her neck. “When I met with them… They were mostly seeking information, not control. Once they found out I didn’t have it, they definitely got more emotional and reckless. I don’t think they have some big plan for the spirits or Entelexeia. I think it’s more personal.”

“Personal how? They’re a group for Entelexeia protection in a world without Entelexeia.” Raven huffed and crossed his arms, leaning back harshly despite the lack of a backrest. “What else could they be going for?”

Judith felt a chill run through her spine. If they really were for Entelexeia protection, then the spirits would be the opposite desire. If that really was the case… “They could be going for us. For Brave Vesperia.”

“Why would they have that vendetta?” Aster leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees, and Raven’s face turned. Clearly he knew already.

“We asked the Entelexeia to become spirits. It’s because of Brave Vesperia that the world runs as it does; the blastia change, the spirits, the Empire… It can all be tied back to us.” Judith toyed with the end of her antenna as she felt the edge of her wound itch. “If they really are after revenge, they wouldn’t be the first. Perhaps the most dangerous, but it makes them more predictable than before.”

“Guess that info helped a bit, Aster, but now everything’s gotten risky.” She seemed to agree with Raven’s sentiment, Judith noticed, as she rubbed her neck with nervous energy.

“Despite those negative things that Brave Vesperia’s done, at least when viewed with a certain lens,” Aster corrected as Judith narrowed her eyes, “no one can deny that you did save the world. The Adephagos would have destroyed the world had you not stepped in. Are people still that selfish?”

Raven and Judith both looked at each other and she noticed the hints of regret reflecting in his eyes before he turned back to face the older Kritya. “Honey, the world’s always gonna be selfish. It’s up to people like us, who know an objective truth, to make sure that nothing goes askew. Flynn and the knights also do that, only now they actually have their heads in the right places.”

Aster’s lips hardened to a line and Judith tilted her head at the strange look that glanced through her eyes. “When…” She gestured to Judith vaguely. “When I was in the knights, I was a knight…”

“I figured as much,” she purred and hooked her hands together, drawing her knees forth, while Aster flushed. “Not just anyone has a blastia, especially one that they still wear. And Raven’s informed me that bow is usually knights-only.”

“Yes, that’s correct… I suppose I was stupid for trying to conceal it from you all, but Mae didn’t suspect, so I figured I’d leave it be.” She sighed, closing her eyes, and steeled herself again. “When I was in the knights I served under a captain that really did believe in the protection of people. Everyone could see it in his actions; he was a hero. Thanks to that, I was able… to reform myself. I owe everything to him.” She exhaled slowly, voice wavering, and Judith could tell it was a tender subject for her. Her eyes opened slowly, reflecting the day’s light cleanly. “When I see people who flounder in their lives, casting unnecessary hurt onto others it doesn’t make sense. That group doesn’t make sense.”

“Emotions are hardly so cut and dry,” Raven figured and touched Judith’s side one last time, the wound fading to a pale line, and he straightened up. “Even villains have selfish wants and ways.”

“Don’t I know it,” she muttered into her arm, and Judith smiled.

“Everyone is selfish at the core. It’s those that use those feelings for good that we need to stand behind.” She looked up at the sky, feeling Ba’ul’s sense tingle in the back of her mind. “That knight, Flynn, wanted so badly to change the system. It was his selfish wish. But he had the ultimate protection of people in his mind, so his will won out and the system is all the better for it.” She looked back at Aster and narrowed her eyes. “It’s those people with muddied thoughts that pose a threat to everyone. People without all necessary information. Those people are the most dangerous.”

“Like Yeager, you mean?”

Judith nodded. “I don’t know what his attachment was to anything, not until long after his death. Even then, it’s shrouded in mystery.”

“I guess the only people who really know are dead,” Raven said, voice low, and Judith figured he was referring to Casey.

She had a feeling Casey had never really loved Raven, not the way he did unto her, but she knew that it didn’t matter. Feelings were messy, but never an end all. Though she loved Yeager more, it didn’t mean she hadn’t held any for Raven. Hopefully he knew that.

“Until we invent some way to talk to them, I suppose their problems will continue being ours,” Aster chuckled, but Judith didn’t sense much humor.

Despite what she’d originally thought of her, Aster didn’t really seem like that bad of a person, not like what the residents of Myorzo, those who’d been directly impacted by the attacks, seemed to think. She’d seen people change before, though; Rita was less harsh, Karol seemed incredibly brave now, Raven no longer had a death wish… Even she herself had learned to depend on others.

They had no right to believe Aster couldn’t be the same. She had to believe in that.

Night fell before they’d healed enough and gained enough energy to split up and begin the second half of the request, so Karol and Raven began setting up camp again while Mae and Judith worked on dinner. Aster used what limited spirit understanding she had to fortify the area, but admitted that she couldn’t do much more than what the repellant already did.

As the rest of the team gathered up their things for bed, Karol pulled Judith to the side to run over what she’d do on the travel back. “You and Mae aren’t good at healing and support, so I want you to follow that spirit trail that we found before. It shouldn’t have faded quite yet, but Mae may need a good guard, so that’s why I’m sending you.”

“And not because you want to keep me from Temza?” Judith teased and placed a hand over her chest while Karol flushed with embarrassment. “Aw, protecting me?”

“I-I’m just saying Mae’s better off with you than us! And I need Raven’s healing just in case something goes wrong and I also have some support… I may be slow, but I think I’d be better off staying…”

“I’m not doubting your choice, Karol,” Judith said while fluffing his hair despite the disgruntled face he made. “I just hope that your team will fare well. Aster seems like a kind woman, but there’s still things lying beyond the surface.”

“Like with Raven, you mean?” Karol sighed, adjusted his hair, and his expression fell. “I still can’t believe that happened… I trusted him. Estelle trusted him. Maybe you and Yuri didn’t, but…” He sighed and rubbed his eyes. “I didn’t even have a clue that he’d been going through all that. I was angry then, yea, but when I thought about how much that must have been hurting him, I guess… I guess I forgave him easier than you did.”

“I suppose you’re correct,” Judith murmured and looked up at the appearing stars. “What he did to Estelle, and by extension all of us, was unforgivable, but he wasn’t really in control. Alexei could have killed him at any time. Maybe he even wanted to die.”

“Don’t say stuff like that…”

“It was the truth,” she reaffirmed herself, sending a cautious glance Karol’s way before he settled down again. “Though Aster may be hiding something like that, I doubt she has the same lack of control that Raven did. I want you to watch your back.”

“You think she’s part of that group?” Karol’s voice wavered and Judith had to consider her answer.

“No. Raven’s quite adamant that she’s not and I can’t see why she would be a part of them either. I believe she has her own motivations for what she does. Her goals may eventually clash with ours and we’ll be left on opposite sides of the divide. She’s not a threat, but she may be a slight danger.”

“She may be good at magic, but against me and Raven she can’t be that dangerous,” Karol muttered, but he seemed to at least listen to Judith’s suggestion.

She couldn’t be sure of Aster’s motivations, not when she was returning to Temza for partially personal reasons, but she could at least cover some bases. The Krityan group usually snuck around and attacked members of the Empire more often than not, especially when they were misusing blastia, and Aster had possession of a spent blastia. She doubted she was part of that group. She couldn’t trust her, but she didn’t fear her.

Her dreams consisted of worry and stress, but surprisingly Aster wasn’t part of them.

That morning she and Mae split off from the group and began heading the way they’d come. Even though she was only a year younger than Judith, she found herself rather distant from the girl. Mae spent a fair amount of the travel going over new weapons (aloud…) and asking Judith what sorts of situations she’d encountered that would require the shield of stealth. She answered that she was always a blunt sort of person, so Mae couldn’t really relate to her.

“You seem to have the fighting style of an adversary we’d fought multiple times. He had such a straight-forward style, I doubt you’d have much use for throwing daggers.”

Mae froze at that, prompting Judith to stop walking as well, and the Kritya turned her head, becoming slightly confused at the show. It was no secret to these members of Brave Vesperia that Mae had near a carbon copy of Zagi’s fighting style, even if they were from the same guild. Certainly, she was somehow faster and seemed to want to cripple the enemy first before bursting head on, but Zagi hadn’t quite been all there anyway.

Mae smiled thinly, sending the hints of a chill through Judith’s spine, and she sighed. “Yes, there was someone who I watched for some valuable lessons. Of course, I’m self-taught, as far as specifics go, so there’s probably nothing for you to worry about.”

Her tone was cold and Judith wondered again why she’d choose Brave Vesperia as an escort and not the common escort guilds, like the Clouds of Dawn, or something or other. Was it more personal?

Did she want revenge for Zagi? Did she even know they’d been the ones to bring Zagi to his end?

“Self-taught? I thought Leviathan’s Claw would be more adamant about teaching their members all the specifics very carefully,” Judith cooed, warmth gone from her voice. “They were certainly quick with fighting us after all, even when we were trying to save the world.”

“Yeager had been wrapped around Alexei’s little finger,” Mae continued coolly, and Judith figured she was right. “What did you expect him to do? Let the Empire trample our guild to dust? Slaughter us all? They seemed ready to do that multiple times in the past five years. Even more. It was only because the Don formed the Union that we were finally able to survive.”

“And even then you had not one but two traitors in your midst,” Judith stated rather harshly, but it was no secret now that Raven and Yeager both had been manipulated by the Empire for less than stellar reasons. “I joined a guild because I believed there was more available for me there than both the Empire and Myorzo, not because I required protection.”

“Yet you interact with the Union quite often,” Mae countered, and Judith suddenly realized that they were arguing.

Why would she start such a conversation with Mae, and why would she continue with kind? What was Judith missing?

Mae tossed a knife into the air, sunlight reflecting off of the blade. “The Union’s still getting better. Harry’s the Don, the Blood Alliance has disintegrated, lots of things have changed. You can’t fault a single group or person for that.” She stuck the knife back into its sheath and Judith narrowed her eyes. “Rather, we can fault the actions of Brave Vesperia for not allowing us the information to transfer smoother. Lots of people are still angry about that, you know.”

“We had no choice. We’ve told everyone that.”

“Yea, but is that the truth? And will people even believe you?”

It was the truth… At least in part. They’d told Flynn about everything after all, but it would have been impossible for him to inform everyone, even with spreading of information. The least he could do was prepare the capital, really, and even then people had still gotten injured. Judith could remember some stories Raven and Flynn told her, but she preferred to keep those in a dark recess of her mind. It wouldn’t help her now.

“If people don’t believe us, that is their problem,” Judith replied with a chilled tone, and Mae sighed, closing her eyes. “It’s the truth. Had we not used the blastia’s power to defeat the Adephagos, it would have consumed the world. Same as to the Hermes blastia. There was a reason I traveled to destroy those, and it wasn’t because of something petty like jealousy.”

“I don’t care about the Hermes blastia, I’m not a researcher,” Mae muttered, but she seemed to cool down slightly at least. “I’m just annoyed that Leviathan’s Claw got the short end of the stick for practically everything. We lost members, our guild leader, our blastia, and yet people still blame us for a myriad of problems.”

“Perhaps that’s because of the faces you’ve put on rather than mere circumstance,” Judith figured before she took the front again, sun burning against her skin.

For a moment she felt a sensation of fear, as if she had just left herself unguarded, but it quickly passed, replaced by the feeling of the spirit trail slowly fading, disappearing into the air.

Had Aster been a red herring? The thought vanished like her anger and they arrived at Mantaic just as the sun dipped beyond the mountains of the Weasand of Cados.

“Ba’ul will be here tomorrow to pick you up,” Judith said to Mae as she began setting up her bed for the night before flipping through her journal. “I believe Cas should also be with him, he may also be with Jun.”

“Ok. I don’t care about the travel plans, you’re the one who can talk to the Entelexeia,” Mae muttered from her bed as she underlined a few passages before looking over the thorns again. “I’ll have the rest of your payment once we get back to Dahngrest.”

Judith sighed and rubbed her forehead. She wasn’t going to get much further with Mae, not when they’d had a discussion like that.

The most she could hope for was that Karol’s group would complete Aster’s quest without much difficulty, but if the ability of the monsters really had increased, that may be a trite dream.

_This may be a bigger issue than we first believed…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much to mention, other than I may need to start updating twice a month instead of four times. School will be starting next week and I still have work.  
> Happy reading~


	7. Update

Due to a combination of school starting, work, and personal projects, I'm gonna be sticking this into temporary hiatus. It's mostly until I get back on my feet, but an original story I've been working on has demanded more attention. Chapter 7 isn't finished, but I've started on it. I've also plotted the rest of this fic, so I'm not dead in the water either. Sorry about this announcement, but I get the feeling it won't be too long until I can post again. Will definitely not post once a week though, rip.  
Hang tight until then.


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